O'Riordan stays focused

Cork City and a couple of the big Dublin clubs may be gone, but this weekend's FAI Cup quarterfinals still contain some attractive encounters. For several of the clubs, the competition now represents their most likely, if not only, route to Europe next year; and for one or two, just about any reason to take a break from the league would be welcome.

Ironically, though, the tie being touted as the game of the round involves sides for whom there is comparatively little at stake. Galway United and St Patrick's Athletic have bigger fish to fry than the cup this season.

For Liam Buckley's side, breaking the club's long run without a cup victory would be nice, but it will not be nearly so important to them as becoming the first team in more than a decade to successfully defend the league.

Don O'Riordan's side, meanwhile, have their sights set firmly on the league too, with a dozen or so points from their remaining eight games almost certainly enough to carry them back into the premier division.

There is little pressure on them. If they win, terrific; if not, then what harm, the quarter-finals are as far as the club have gone in this competition since they won it in 1991. The following week's trip to Athlone is the thing to really get worked up about anyway.

O'Riordan, of course, might be forgiven for being more edgy in the build-up to what is, on the face of it, the biggest game of his almost two-year spell in charge. But, after wrapping up the week's first training session yesterday, he was in relaxed form as he considered his team's prospects.

The former Notts County star readily admitted that Friday's fortuitous league victory over Home Farm Everton meant more to him than a win over St Patrick's would. But he maintains, as he has since the start of the season, that it is important for his team to gain a measure of where they stand against clubs from the top flight. That, after all, is where they intend to be playing before too long.

How much of an indication Friday's will provide is difficult to say. For one thing, St Patrick's are a cut or two above the majority of premier division sides, as a glance at the current league table will show. But anyway, games like Friday's are one-offs, when the difference in the clubs' respective league standings, though still a factor, may not count for much.

Still, the United boss would obviously like to see some of his work over the past 20 months pay off. During that time he has put together a new, young team which, after a long spell when they found it difficult to win and a subsequent spot of fine tuning, has recently joined Drogheda United at the top of the first division. In fact, the team hasn't been beaten since November, and their recent progress includes three straight league wins.

But O'Riordan insists that his plans at Terryland Park still extend well beyond this weekend's game.

"My dream here," he says, "is to be managing a Galway team playing in Europe, and I don't see any real reason why that couldn't happen within the next five years or so. Whether I'm still here then isn't just in my hands, but while I've made no secret of the fact that my long-term ambition would be to go back to England and coach at the highest level, there's a lot I want to achieve at Galway first."

His dedication to the cause certainly isn't open to question. O'Riordan works flat out at United to help the first team, developing the club's youth team structures and, as required, setting up stall wherever the opportunity presents itself to sell tickets for games.

The improvement on the pitch can be attributed also to his tinkering, for in early December, after a run of 10 draws in their previous 16 league outings, the one-time Richmond Park regular who grew up in Ballyfermot decided to make changes to the training regime. He also reduced the average age of his panel still further by letting two of his more experienced players, John "Jumbo" Brennan and Aidan Forde, leave the club.

Both decisions have paid off: the side's improved fitness has helped the players to squeeze late winners out of a couple of key games (last Friday's came in the 93rd minute), and the youngsters given the opportunity as a result of the departures have sparkled.

Like them, O'Riordan knows he has something to prove and he admits that, if his career in management is to take off, then he needs to start filling in the blanks on his CV over the next season or two. He remains proud of much of what he achieved during his spell in charge at Torquay, but he recognises that he will have to make a lot of progress at United if he is going to make a suitable impression on anybody back across the water.

A single cup upset will hardly do the trick. But then, what the hell, it can't do any harm.