Aisling Annacotty bow out of FAI Junior Cup

Aisling Annacotty were eliminated from the FAI Junior Cup at the semi-final stage on Sunday afternoon following a 1-0 defeat to Sheriff YC at the AUL Complex.

Stephen Maher scored the only goal in the first half from the penalty spot after Aisling goalkeeper Stephen Walsh fouled Joe Flood.

There was massive confusion leading up to the game as Annacotty were informed less than an hour before kick off that the game would be taking place on the Astroturf pitch. However, it was switched to grass in a bizarre build up.

Despite missing experienced players due to captain Paul Murphy’s stag, Sheriff could still include the likes of Anto Flood and player manager Mark Quigley, two ex League of Ireland stalwarts in their starting team. It was always going to be extremely tough for the Limerick side in the capital.

When speaking to Eamon Scott of Striker Online after the game, Aisling manager Mike Aherne was full of praise for Sheriff YC and credited their will to win and experience. “It’s disappointing, the manner in which we conceded the goal. We shot ourselves in the foot. We had chances and Sheriff were down to the bare bones but they stood up to us and showed why year on year they are contesting FAI Junior Cup finals.”

However, the lead up to the semi final was farcical with three clubs in limbo up until Friday evening, less than 48 hours before Sunday’s semi-final was played.

Regional United appealed against their dismissal from this year’s FAI Junior Cup due to the ineligibility of midfielder Sosuke Kimura. Regional had beaten Sheriff YC in the quarter-finals at Dooradoyle following an extraordinary comeback.

However, rumours began to circulate after the game that Sheriff had objected to the defeat due to the lack of international clearance for Kimura. Both the FAI Junior and Senior Councils found in favour of re-instating Sheriff into the competition.

Regional decided to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the hearing was due to take place on Thursday 25th of April. The Arbitrator did not receive the relevant documents in time and the hearing was pushed back to last Wednesday.

However, all clubs were not made aware of the decision to re-instate Sheriff until Friday evening, which gave Annacotty approximately 40 hours or less to prepare for the biggest game in the club’s history.

Speaking to Striker Online on the issue, Aherne was clearly fuming about the build-up.

The competition to me was dead in the water after what’s happened in the last few weeks. For what has happened in the last few weeks to all sides left in the competition, it’s just been an absolute scandal.

Nobody has represented the players in all of this. These are amateur players. We get told on a Friday evening to take these players off work and other commitments on a long weekend.

We arrive to the ground and we get told 55 minutes before kick off that we are playing on all weather pitch. That’s farcical stuff for the biggest amateur competition in Europe. It is amateur by the FAI.

Aisling Annacotty were rank outsiders at the beginning of the competition and nobody expected the Limerick District League club to reach the latter stages. Aherne has developed a young squad and said that Sunday’s defeat is a steep learning curve for his youthful group. “We just didn’t take our chances. You have to take your chances. Sheriff got one good chance from the penalty spot and they took it. For us, it’s a learning curve. It will hurt for a couple of days or weeks but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

With the likes of 15 year-old Ronan O’Dwyer appearing at this stage of the competition, Aherne and the rest of Annacotty will be hoping to build on this year’s fantastic run and ensure it is the beginning of regular appearances at the latter stages.

Sheriff will now face Tipperary outfit St. Michaels in the FAI Junior Cup final at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday with a 5pm kick-off.