St James’s Gate captain James McCrudden, Carrick United captain Wayne Fitzgerald together with the match officials prior to last Saturdays FAI senior cup game in Dublin.

St James’s Gate 2; Carrick United 3

Six days after booking their place in the final of the FAI Junior Cup, Carrick United advanced to the Round 3 of the Ford FAI Senior Cup with a thrilling victory over one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, St James’s Gate.

Their latest triumph means that they will now go into the draw on Monday, May 12th with the big names in Irish football, such as Drogheda United, Derry City, St Patrick’s Atheltic and of course Waterford United.

St James’s Gate are a very famous club and they were in fact the first ever club to win the FAI Cup by beating Shamrock Rovers in the final of 1922 after a replay. Waterford won the cup for the first time in 1937 and the team they beat was St James’s Gate in that decider.

Many years later, in the early 60s the old Dublin club came to Waterford to play Tycor in the FAI Cup. They defeated the Waterford club who were playing in the Munster Senior League at the time, a side which included the late Harry Hale.

The main focus in the minds of the Carrick United player this season is of course the FAI Junior Cup, but following this superb victory at the Iveagh Grounds in Crumlin on Saturday night last the club management will be hoping for a money-spinning home draw against one of the big names in Irish football.

Two seasons ago they also reached the 3rd round but were drawn away to Shamrock Rovers. The game was played in Richmond Park and it was the Dublin hoops who won a very tight match.

Although the FAI Junior Cup is the Holy Grail for the club, their manager Liam Wells selected a full strength team for the game against St James’s Gate.

Anthony O’Donnell was not risked due to his knee problem so Richard Lawrence came in to replace him. All of the other players who performed against Castlebar Celtic the previous week were on duty at the Iveagh Grounds.

Carrick did not allow the home side out of their own half during the opening 20 minutes but completely against the run of play it was St James’s Gate who took the lead through Paul Griffin after 27 minutes. The game was turned on its head during four remarkable minutes in the second half as Carrick United scored three goals to knock the stuffing out of the Leinster Senior League outfit.

Daryl Kavanagh hammered in shot on 67 minutes. The home goalkeeper could only parry his effort and Ian Cleary who scored a wonder goal the previous Sunday against Castlebar Celtic was on hand to crack the ball into the net.

Two minutes later Daryl Kavanagh was taken down inside the penalty area by John O’Brien and Kavanagh converted the spot kick himself. John O’Brien was then sent off for his remarks to the referee. The roof fell in completely on St James Gate on 71 minutes when Stephen Hahessy scored.

There was no coming back for the Dubliners at that stage. Conor Buckley did manage to beat the Carrick goalkeeper Adrian Walsh on 89 minutes but it was far to late for a crest fallen St James’s Gate team.

Another fantastic weekend for The Hoops.

Carrick United: Adrian Walsh, James Walsh, Brian Barry, Richie Lawrence, John Walsh, Keith Walsh, Anthony Power, Wayne Fitzgerald, Ian Cleary, Daryl Kavanagh, Ian Cleary. Sub: Alan Ryan for Fitzgerald (second half).