The most miserable party I've ever been to was a decade ago in London where, along with a handful of Labour candidates and a few hundred of their election workers, I went to a Camden theatre to watch what was supposed to be the end of an era in British politics.
About an hour into what was intended to be a very long night, the results of some key marginal constituencies flashed across the bottom of the big screen and, in an instant, everybody there knew the game was up. After that the handful of first-time MPs still managed to look vaguely happy with themselves, while the rest took on a dazed look that could only partly be put down to the amount of drink being consumed.
As a night out, I didn't think there could ever be worse. At this point, though, that may be at least partly down to the fact that I wasn't at Alan Bennett's 21st birthday party in Cork last Friday night. The City defender's celebrations must have been a laugh a minute. Certainly when somebody at Tolka Park on Sunday mimicked the expression on Declan Daly's face as he wandered around the bash, it brought the memories flooding back.
Bennett, like a good many others in the Cork team, looks to have a bright enough future and, after a decent interval, the defeat by Derry in Friday's game may be viewed as no more than a temporary setback. For Daly, one of the heroes of the domestic game in recent years, there may not be another chance to play in a cup decider.
The 36-year-old was as influential as ever in the game, his vast experience more than compensating for the couple of yards of pace lost. But it wasn't enough. Cork had home advantage, plenty of possession and a penalty, but couldn't win, so they can have no complaints. However, the fact that Sean Friars's goal was the result of hesitation on the part of three Cork defenders can only have compounded the misery of Daly and, one presumes, Friday's birthday boy.
Sadly, the late goal wasn't the only setback for the home club. Having managed to sell out the 8,000 capacity ground, they certainly might have hoped for a little more by way of entertainment to tempt the punters back. If nothing else the first half did at least provide a reminder of how far the game has come on here over the past 10 years or so. It's easy to forget how many games then involved two sides entirely content to launch the ball at each other and then run like the clappers.
Yet, it has long seemed to be the case that the league and cup's biggest days - Shamrock Rovers's first game at the RDS and Cork's first back at Turner's Cross spring to mind - often produce fairly poor matches. For the regulars, that's fine as it's easy to put it down to a one-off, but for anyone who hasn't been to a game for a while, there must be a sense that nothing ever changes.
With Rovers on Sunday, it was hard to escape the conclusion that much as Liam Buckley has talked about the team gradually getting to where he wants it to be, this was very much the side he inherited from Damien Richardson. The 4-3-3 formation has been ditched, Terry Palmer and Greg Costello are back in the defence, James Keddy is pretty much a straight replacement for Billy Woods, and last year's striking partnership of Sean Francis and Tony Grant were once again leading the attack.
Had much the same team not had such a spectacular off-night in Oriel Park five months ago, Richardson could well have kept his job. As it is, Buckley can write himself into the club's history books if he can coax another strong performance out of the side when they take on Derry City on the 27th of this month.
Bewilderingly, the venue for the final became a live issue within minutes of the final whistle, with the FAI suggesting it might move the game from Tolka Park to Lansdowne Road. Notwithstanding the fact that the clubs involved are attributing the official attendance of 4,200 at Tolka Park for the Dublin derby to the day's various counter-attractions and appear set, on that basis, to pursue the FAI for compensation, there is nothing to suggest that a final involving Rovers and Derry warrants a return to Ballsbridge.
A few hours before the kick-off on Sunday Rovers had apparently something over a thousand tickets for their semi-final and there were a string of occasions during the past few years when talk that most of Derry's population was about to descend on Dundalk or Dublin for a big game was followed by a disappointing crowd. In the circumstances, the two outfits selling 11,000 tickets between them hardly seems like a foregone conclusion. In any case a full house at Tolka is vastly preferable to 14,000 or so at Lansdowne where the cost of hiring the place for the day more than swallows up the additional revenue.
Still, what we have here is the makings of a row that might overshadow the build up to the cup final and experience has taught us that such things are not casually discarded. Brace yourselves for a slanging match, recriminations and, inevitably, threats of legal action after which, no doubt, we'll all have a fine day out at Lansdowne Road. ...
