‘The proudest day of my life’
Wayne Fitzgerald, Captain
“This is the proudest day of my life. I just cannot describe it right now. Perhaps later in the week I will get my head around what we have achieved. We have suffered defeats in this competition down though the years at late stages but we have managed to put all those defeats well and truly behind us today. My God, has this team got guts and character! We are capable of scoring late goals in games and I never gave up hope because we were the better team. I did say a prayer with two minutes remaining and, thankfully, God answered that prayer. As I said, this is the proudest day of my life, it does not get any better than this.”
Alan Ryan
“I did not have a problem taking the injury time penalty despite the fact that I had missed five out of five during the week in training. We wanted the cup so badly, you would not believe it. We knew what he had to do and we did it. We gave up our league title to win this cup and fair play to Waterford Crystal for taking it from us but we will be back to win it next season. This is the greatest day in the history of the club and I am proud to be part of it all.”
Anthony Power
“We started training back in August and, at times, it was very tough going.
However, this day has made it all worthwhile. We gave up a lot during those months but it has been all worth it now.
We knew what we had to do in the second half and we never had any doubt that we could get back into the game because all of the lads have amazing pride in the Carrick shirt.”
Brian Barry
“We came from behind when we played away to Redcastle United so we knew we could come from behind again in this game. Having lost in the 2004 final, we knew what it took to win and we have proved that today. Daryl Kavanagh proved that point. Most players would have dropped their head and drifted out of the game but Dil kept going and he was the player who won us the winning penalty. I have played a long time for this wonderful club but this is by far the greatest day ever in the green and white shirt. I will play on for as long as I can for this brilliant club.”
James Walsh
“I have played with Carrick United all of my career and this is the most special day of my life. To be voted Man of the Match makes it even more special but this is a day for everyone involved with the club, both past and present. We did it the hard way but I never had any doubt that we would win at the end. This group of players has been together since August. No one ever missed a training session and look at us now, Champions of Ireland.”
Liam Wells, Manager
“It has been an honour to manage this group of players. Everything we asked of them, they did superbly. They have sacrificed so much since August. Nights away from their loved ones, training three night a week and Saturday mornings. There were special diets and lots of other things also. That is what you have to do to win the FAI Junior Cup. It is a wonderful result for the people of Carrick on Suir and for the Waterford League. We have to thank clubs like Waterford Crystal, Bohemians and, indeed, all of the clubs in the Waterford League because they have kept us on our toes down through the years and we have had to keep raising the bar.”
Daryl Kavanagh
“I felt terrible when I missed the penalty but the lads kept me going. They told me to keep going and that is what I did because the club wanted this cup for so long. It was not hard to keep the head up because I knew we would get the breaks because we were the better team.”
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