Filippo Giovagnoli seemed happy afterwards if his side's victory over Shamrock Rovers had silenced a few more of those who were sceptical about his appointment in the summer but the Italian was more immediately concerned about the reminder this David McMillan -led win had provided to those who might have doubted it that Dundalk will be a force again next season
“It is important,” he said, after suggesting with a big smile that he would sleeping with the trophy. “We wanted to show that Dundalk is still there, that the team is still there. It was a short season and I think the cup has the same value as the league. Winning it is important, the trophy is important but not as important as seeing the players playing well together and happy; believe me.
“If Shamrock Rovers had won the cup it would have been big for them, it would have given them more confidence, made them think that they were unbeatable but they showed them tonight that they are not.”
McMillan's contribution had, of course, been central to it all with the striker's hat-trick, completed late in extra-time, the defining aspect of the game. Giovagnoli paid tribute to the 31-year-old, who had got his late season run in the team and start here at least in part because Pat Hoban was injured.
“David is an unbelievable player, an unbelievable man,” said the manager. Like [Filippo] Inzaghi, he is that type of player you feel is not there sometimes but he works hard in the box and he is so hungry to score goals.”
McMillan got to have his fill here, maintaining an extraordinary recent run of form but he said that the wider team performance was inspired in part by the disappointment suffered in last year’s final and in part by criticism that has been levelled on the team this season.
“It’s been a tough season but it’s an epic way to finish it,” he said. “I wasn’t here last season but I think if you look at it the team were champions and almost won the treble but they ended up suffering a disappointment in the cup and I’ve lost finals in the past myself and it’s a difficult thing to pick yourself up from in the close season.
“This season, we’ve lost the league and there has been a lot of criticism from all angles, some of it deserved maybe, but some of it not, and I think that it has all served as a bit of extra motivation. So it was about putting in another big performance, similar to the one we produced against Bohemians in the quarter-final and I think that we did that in the second half and extra-time. I really think that we got stronger as the night went on.”
Stephen Bradley wasn't arguing with any of that when he came in to provide his assessment of why it hadn't been his side's night and the Rovers manager dismissed the notion that the loss of Joey O'Brien to injury at half-time had been in any way decisive.
“I thought the players did well other than the fact that they didn’t take their chances,” he said. “If they had done that, I think it would have been a very different game. Goals change momentum and when they scored, you could see that it gave them a lift. When you score late in a cup final, you feel like you can run for an extra hour and that’s what happened.
“They are a good side and they will be there again next year. We knew that we would leave everything out there tonight but they did too and you can’t take anything away from them.
“Joey going off is definitely a blow to you at any time and losing him at half-time in a couple final isn’t great but I still felt that we had enough on the pitch to win the game and we showed that with the chances that we created. We didn’t take them; they are a good side and they did. I think that was the difference.”
