Killing the romance

If you're interested in the game, there's not too much to complain about in this job. Still, as the past weekend highlighted, there are some minor drawbacks to one's livelihood being closely intertwined with the fortunes of the National League. One is that any hint of the romance associated with the FAI Cup is lost.

Back in 1990, when Gerry Thornley was in this post, there was considerable amusement to be derived from watching his growing anxiety as the then nonleague St Francis progressed through the competition. As Pete Mahon's team reached the last four, our current rugby correspondent and his then-fellow football writers began to get edgy.

When the fairytale ended in the final at Lansdowne Road in a resounding 3-0 defeat by Bray, it mattered little enough to us neutrals in the crowd. St Francis had done so well to get there that their supporters went home proud. On the other side of the pitch, though, most of the occupants of the press box were delighted the league had been spared the humiliation of a Leinster Senior League outfit going forward to the Cup Winners' Cup. And so had they.

Eight years on, I understand their attitude completely.

Batting on behalf of the league in the workplace can prove tricky enough. A sceptical sports editor grins and asks, "Why should we devote more space to it when . . .. (complete the question by inserting something along the lines of: can't run a cup draw without a hitch, can't be sure which club is going to go bang next or, crucially, the clubs keep getting put out of the cup by non-league sides). These are not always easy questions to answer.

So you find yourself, against all instincts, sort of hoping that Sligo grab an equaliser against Mervue and then do them in the replay, or Francis, with their recently elevated status, give Cherry Orchard a bit of a going over.

When, as it did over the weekend, the first round of the competition lacks a single shock of real note, it's difficult not to feel just a little relief that the status of the league has not been further diminished. That, even though what makes the FAI Cup, or any similar competition, so special is its potential to surprise.

Ironically, a huge upset, such as a defeat for Derry by Rockmount is, in the football reporters' book, far less alarming than a string of decent but uninspiring first division sides getting beaten by opponents from the lower ranks.

While many reckon that the best of the non-league clubs are at least a match for many who compete on the national stage, Cherry Orchard's manager, John Wilkes, conceded in the build-up to the game with St Francis that his players are, for the most part, where they are because they don't quite have what it takes to take that extra step up in standard.

That opinion was largely substantiated by the weekend's results. Dundalk, like Derry, hammered a non-league side, Shelbourne overwhelmed a team currently third in the First Division and Finn Harps beat a strong Bray side by two goals. First Division teams Athlone Town, Galway United and Home Farm Everton did as the form book indicated.

For anyone who has had to defend to the league, it's a little bit of a relief. But, for the part of all of us that hopes each year that the cup will throw up another fairytale, the early indications are that this year's competition is going to prove a disappointment.