Bohemian FC Bray Wanderers Drogheda United Dundalk Shamrock Rovers Sligo Rovers St. Patricks Ath Athlone Town Finn Harps Cork City Derry SD Galway Limerick FC Longford Town Mervue Utd Monaghan United Shelbourne UCD Waterford United Wexford Youths
 
 
 
Shels hoping to avoid FAI Ford Cup hiccup
Shelbourne defender Kevin Doherty knows the danger of facing non-league opposition in the FAI Ford Cup and he is hoping the Reds don't suffer any hiccups when Crumlin United come to Tolka Park on Tuesday evening.

 
Doherty was part of the Longford Town team that made it all the way to the FAI Ford Cup final in 2007, but the midlander's cup adventure was very nearly ended in the Third Round by Celbridge Town, when a James Mooney penalty helped Longford scrape into the Last 16.
 

It is an experience Doherty is determined to avoid when Crumlin United come to Tolka Park for the first of this season's FAI Ford Cup Third Round fixtures.
 

"When you play junior or intermediate clubs in the cup you know that the minimum you will get is a battle," he said. "Their focus will be totally on this game and we have to match them. The season I got to the cup final with Longford, we were almost beaten by Celbridge earlier on in the competition.
 

"I had never seen a team as up for a match as Celbridge were and they almost caught us out. We know that Crumlin will come to Tolka determined to put it up to us. They will be really up for this. A few of our lads have seen them and they have been saying that they are a very good team, so we know what to expect."
 

The 2009 season has started well for Shelbourne, who sit one point behind UCD at the top of the First Division table but, crucially, have one game in hand. The Reds' promotion hopes were boosted last Friday with a superb 1-0 victory over title rivals Waterford United.
 

"We were delighted, not just with the result [v Waterford] but also with how we played," he said. "It was a very important result for us, but it was the best we have played all season. We probably haven't been playing as well as we can but against Waterford everything clicked for us. If we continue to play like that we should win most of our matches. It will take a very good team to stop us."
 

This is Doherty's second spell at Tolka Park, having played with Shelbourne prior to stints with Longford Town and Bray Wanderers. He says that he had no problem dropping down into the First Division because he is confident that Shelbourne's stay in the lower tier will be a temporary one.
 

"I'm delighted to be back at Shels," he said. "I could have stayed with Bray and stayed in the Premier Division but I always wanted to come back to Shels and I knew that if I came back we'd be pushing for promotion. The majority of the players at Shels have played in the Premier - people like Damien Brennan, Dean Delaney, Richie Baker, Mark O'Brien - so I knew that we'd be good enough to push for promotion.
 

"It took a last minute goal to deny the club promotion last year, but from talking to the lads who were here last season the main reason the club didn't win the league was the mid-season form. After the break last year the team struggled for a while and then needed to go on a run at the end. Our focus this season will be making sure that doesn't happen again. We have to come back from the break and continue where we left off from."
 

FAI Ford Cup Third Round
Tuesday, June 9th
Crumlin United           v          Shelbourne
Tolka Park                               8.00pm
 
 
 
Website Disclaimer

The information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. The Football Association of Ireland endeavours to keep the information up to date and correct. Fixtures data may change and whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information displayed on this website is correct and up to date, we are not liable for any errors. The Football Association of Ireland takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.