It's taken Drogheda United 19 years to win the FAI Cup and South African goalkeeper Jethren Barr has opened up about being part of that history, but there's the threat of relegation and a contract expiration to think about as well.
Irish club Drogheda claimed the FAI Cup, which is similar to the Nedbank Cup where top flight clubs are pitted against lower division outfits, by beating Derry City, a club Owen da Gama played for during his playing days. By winning the FAI Cup, they have booked their spot in next season's second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
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Barr, a former Bidvest Wits and Maritzburg United goalkeeper, joined Drogheda in January and has made eight appearances in all competitions.
"I have finally got my hands on a trophy overseas. It's my first trophy overseas. It was amazing to be honest, but it was a little bit heart-sore that I could not be involved in the game. It's been a bit of a difficult season for me after I tore my ACL and I was only just coming back from injury recently. I lost my number one jersey when I got injured. I was out for about four months and the team signed a new goalkeeper because I was going to be out for long. He has come in and we have not really lost since then. You are watching the final and you think 'if I didn't get that injury, I'd be the main man doing the business today'," the 29-year-old said to the Siya crew.
"Drogheda doesn't really win cups and finding themselves in that kind of space is really nice. It's short-lived because we've got a relegation playoff next week. But we've qualified for Europe. I want to be pushing into that space and compete against the best."
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Drogheda finished ninth in the 10-team League of the Ireland Premier Division and therefore have to go into a relegation playoff game against First Division club Bray Wanderers.
"I personally think it (the cup win) could be a huge distraction for us. Everyone is still on such a massive high after winning a trophy. It's so easy to take your eye off the ball on what essentially is a bigger game than the cup final, but having said that, we should be miles better than the team we are playing against. But anything is possible in football."
Barr's contract with Drogheda expires at the end of November and there has been no talks yet over an extension.
By Tshepang Mailwane
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