Kerr, O'Connor forced to delay team selections

A WAG in the vicinity of the press box after the second, scoreless draw of the Easter weekend between St Patrick's and Bohemians remarked that if they were giving out free tickets for the third part of the trilogy there still wouldn't be anybody at it.

Well, despite charges ranging from £3 to £6 to £8, come 7.30 this evening there probably won't be any tickets left for the FAI Harp Lager Cup semi final replay at Richmond Park. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the ceiling of almost 5,000 imposed by the Gardai will in any way satisfy demand.

Masochists? Just plain bad judges? More a case of unswervingly loyal, for it would take another few scoreless draws to diminish the appeal of a St Patrick's/Bohemians cup semifinal derby. But let's not tempt fate.

On the optimistic side this game can hardly be any worse than the original cup draw or ensuing league draw. There are even solid grounds for hoping it will be better, not least being the less solid ground.

In contrast to the under watered Dalymount Park surface the Richmond Park pitch has been well rolled and rained on these past few days, while St Patrick's always have their sprinkler system to call upon. On top of which, they use the mitre ball. Dalymount's rock hard pitch ensured only Maurice O'Driscoll had a prayer of bringing the livelier tango ball under control.

In many ways too, the pressure is not so intense, particularly on St Patrick's. Their football in the past two clashes betrayed all the signs of a team weighed down with pressure and the primary (almost exclusive) need to avoid defeat.

With the league title now more firmly in their sights and home advantage for the first time in four cup semi finals under Brian Kerr, they can be expected to give it a lash in time honoured Inchicore tradition.

The bumps and the slope may, have gone but Richmond has never been more cauldron liked and tonight ought to at least be a memorable occasion.

In 20 months and 35 games only Galway have won at Richmond. Risks aplenty have been taken, which has meant Richmond has witnessed considerably more goals (51 in 16 league games) than any other venue this season.

However, no visiting team has actually avoided defeat in that 20 month time span apart from Bohemians. The most memorable of the three draws (and of the 10 in the last 11 meetings between the two clubs) was the 3-3 thriller last January.

The key there was an early breakthrough by Derek Swan but sadly for Bohemians their opportunistic hat trick hero of that night and leading scorer this season with 17 goals in league and cup is suspended. With Maurice O'Driscoll and Mick Moody nursing knocks, and Padraig Dully cup tied, Turlough O'Connor delays selection until the last minute.

Similarly, Kerr will await late fitness tests on leading scorer Ricky O'Flaherty, Paul Osam and Paul Campbell before finalising his selection. Peter Carpenter is suspended for incurring one booking after 28 games this season, because he had a carryover of four bookings and 16 penalty points from last season. Kerr, understandably, has one word for such a risible system: "Ludicrous".

As for tonight, he says: "We want to win it. We want to get through to the final badly. It's another difficult game. There's no more difficult team to be playing than Bohs in these circumstances. They've no babies and no obvious weaknesses. They know the ropes and Turlough knows about getting to finals."

That he does, having guided Dundalk past St Patrick's in the second leg of the two legged semi finals eight years ago tomorrow, and in the Oriel Park semi final three seasons ago on Thursday. Against that of course, St Patrick's have never lost to Bohemians in the FAI Cup.

By my calculations, Kerr and O'Connor have sat in opposing dug outs on 33 occasions, the former winning seven managerial head to heads and O'Connor 11, with 15 drawn (10 of them scoreless). The respect is mutual and genuine.

"There's never been any semblance of nastiness between the two teams whoever the teams were, says Kerr, while accepting that his teams never get anything easily from O'Connor's. "Absolutely not, that's because he, works hard, he's well organised and signs decent players. He doesn't make stupid judgments in the players he signs. He rarely signs a gilly (sic). He's shrewd. That's what I see."

Ditto O'Connor. "He (Kerr) has got what l like to see, a passion and a love for the game, particularly for the club that he's involved with. I've always respected him and admired him for that. Certainly one has to respect his achievements at St Pat's. I would say his teams are always organised and committed. That's always the case. You know what you're getting."

Nothing will come easy tonight. No matter the outcome, there will be a respectful shake of the hands afterwards, and many a drink shared between two close groups of players. My hunch all along was that this could be St Patrick's year in the cup, and that this tie could go to one or, quite feasibly, two replays. Furthermore, in so much as the balance has tilted at all, it would appear to have shifted towards them, but there's precious little in it.