General
- Tuesday June 26th, 2012 @ 10:03
Saints Ready For Rovers Test
St Pat's aim to go one step closer to reaching the final of the EA Sports Cup as they host rivals Shamrock Rovers in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Recent cup ties between the Saints and the Hoops have been tight affairs with the Saints edging their rivals 3-1 on penalties in the EA Sports Cup last year after a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes, while last month it was the Hoops who claimed the bragging rights after a 3-0 victory over Liam Buckley's side in the Leinster Senior Cup.
Following Christy Fagan's two late goals against Bohemians last Friday, Saints' boss Liam Buckley is hoping that his side can carry the momentum gained from the win against the Gypsies into Tuesday's cup tie. “Friday was a great win, and a big three points for us.
However we've got to move on, and now we're going out and try and beat Rovers,” Buckley told stpatsfc.com.
“This game is a quarter-final of one of our major domestic competitions, so it's a big game and one that we want to win. Rovers go into most of their matches as favourites so we know it'll be huge test for us. That being said though, we believe we can go out and win.”
With the Hoops game being the second of three Dublin derbies for the Saints in the space of a week, Buckley expressed his delight at having almost a full squad to choose from, Mark Rossiter being the only absentee with a long term knee injury.
“While one or two of the lads have a few bumps and bruises from the Bohemians game, we've the same squad to choose from and that's a big plus for us.”
With only two games separating Pats from a cup final, midfielder James Chambers expressed to stpatsfc.com his desire to get the win over the Hoops and end the Saints' nine year wait to re-claim a trophy last won against Longford Town in the 2003 final – David Freeman scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win for the Saints in Inchicore.
“The game is another chance to get a final. You play in the league for 10 or 15 years maybe, and there's not that many people who can say that they've played in or even been to a cup final.
So it's another chance to go one step closer, but we know that Rovers are league champions and the game won't be easy. Hopefully though, we'll get a result.”
