18 years of hurt driving Derry City's Alan Reynolds this Sunday

Alan Reynolds feels that a Derry City cup win on Sunday will finally lay to rest ghosts of the 2004 FAI Cup final which have never left him.

Player-manager for Waterford for that game, Reynolds seemed set to lead his team to a memorable cup success when Willy Bruton gave the Blues a second half lead. Waterford held that lead until the final seven minutes when their world imploded with Alan Kirby and Paul Keegan scoring two goals in two minutes to win it for champions Longford.

The hurt of that day has never left Reynolds ever since, but the experience has ensured he has some important words of advice for Ruaidhri Higgins ahead of his first cup final as a manager.

“I suppose they are just to stay calm, that’s the big thing,” he said. “I remember managing Waterford when I was player-manager when I was 28 and we were 1-0 up with seven minutes to go and we lost it 2-1 and it really hurt me. It took me a while to get over it, so what I would be saying is to stay calm, and he has been. We have all the work done, so it’s important that we’re there for him as staff and we have everything covered so he has nothing to worry about.”

Reynolds has worked alongside Higgins for almost a year now, and he believes that mistakes the City boss made this year in his first full season in charge will only make him better heading into the 2023 season.

“The one good thing about him is that he knows he will make mistakes and he knows he will get better from it,” he continued. “He will be a lot better next season from this season. The blip we had in May will stand to him and help him deal with the pressure. He’s learning all the time and I’m helping as much as I can but it’s important he goes through it as well.”

While Sunday is an important day for Ruaidhri Higgins, it is also massive for Reynolds, whose own family will be there on the day.

“It’s a lot of sacrifices to come up here and leave your family so it’s important that you have something to show for it at the end to say it was worth it. You will have a trophy in the bag and it so it was worth it. They will all be there; they’re Waterford fans, but they be Derry fans on the day. I’m glad it’s not Waterford in the final, that’s all I’ll say,” he laughed.

Well-organised

The challenge for Reynolds and Higgins is to work out a way through an opponent who have proved extremely stubborn this season with Shelbourne taking four points off Derry City at the Brandywell.

“I think they’re just so well-drilled and well-organised,” Reynolds reflected. “I even hear their manager talking about that they know exactly where they are to be with the ball and without the ball. I don’t see them committing a lot of players forward. I think they defend with five back and they attack with five. They are dangerous on the counter-attack but they just have a really good shape and they are really well-coached.

“You have got to keep going and you have to find a way. You’d think that with the special players we have that we could do that. The pitch is massive there in the Aviva, which might suit and open up spaces, but one thing for sure, and it’s the same for Shels, we have match winners; McEleney, Duffy, Patching, McGonigle. The list goes on, so we have winners there. I fancy us to score.”

So much hard work has gone into getting Derry City to their first FAI Cup final in eight years, but the last step is always the hardest. Reynolds may have his own demons to put to rest, but he knows just how special it would be for the Brandywell club to get their hands on the famous trophy after 10 long years.

“I think the club deserve it, but you still have to go and do it,” he insisted. “The support this year has been unbelievable. No disrespect to UCD, we played them a couple of months ago, and the place was bouncing, and I’m thinking back to other clubs that I’ve been at and there’s nobody at games. They deserve it for the support they’ve given and the fact that they’ve stuck with us when it’s been tricky. I know there’s been a few moans and groans, but that’s football. They have been starved of it now for the last few years. So hopefully we can give it back to them.

“I’ve been involved with a few clubs as an assistant or as a coach that’s won it, but I’ve never felt as close to a manager or a group of players. I’ve been thinking about this, I think it might make up for that heartache of Waterford. It’s been with me nearly 20 years at this stage, but I think if we were to win this one, it would definitely put that to bed.”