Irish Cup hero Robbie McDaid inspired by father’s words

Those were the words Robbie McDaid’s dad John left his son with before Friday night’s Irish Cup final.

Now McDaid junior may not have had the game he would have hoped for, but he had the moment as he fired home what turned out to be the winning goal in the 115th minutes.

Again it was another emotional moment given the McDaid's attachment to the club.

“My dad spoke to me before the game,” the 23-year-old revealed afterwards.

“Usually before I run out the door he’ll say something and this time it was ‘you’ve got a chance to write yourself into the history books and do something you’ve always wanted to do.

“With his injury, he missed out on the 1982 final for the Glens so it’s nice for me to go now and put that piece of the puzzle in and bring the trophy home for him.

“My dad has brought me up loving Glentoran Football Club and for me to be able to follow the likes of Jimmy Cleary and all those guys - the legends - was unbelievable.

“I know I was useless until the goal but I’ll take it. As a striker I have had to try to be alert and sniff out chances the whole game.

“Curtis[Allen] always told me ’you only need one chance’ and he was perfect like that. Curtis himself would say there were games when he didn’t touch the ball but popped up with the winner and everybody says he was brilliant.

“When it goes to extra time and you have heavy legs, I knew myself that Ballymena’s players have played the same amount of minutes as us this week and there would be a mistake sooner or later.

“Thankfully Ciaran [O’Connor] cut it back for me and I think it was Jim [Ervin] who couldn’t get to it in time and thankfully it sat there for me and I tucked it away.”

It was a tough journey to the trophy for the Glens, especially have to play 240 minutes twice in five days.

McDaid though hopes that they can build on this success.

“We have had to work hard in this cup run,” he said.

“From Portadown to Queens and then Crusaders and we’ve rode our luck.

“But sometimes, luck is better than talent and we’ll take a bit of luck.

“This club was due a bit of luck. Over the years there has been no luck and it has been stinking luck.

“I’ve lost two European play-offs in the last two years but thankfully now we’ve gotten ourselves into Europe.

“It’s important for the club, it’s massive. Yes we are ahead of where we thought we’d be but you never turn down a trophy or European football even if it is earlier than expected.

“The gaffer, the investor and everyone at the club has spoken about European football.

“It’s not just about getting into it, it’s also about making an impression when we are there.

“We saw Linfield do it last season and Shamrock Rovers a few years ago and that’s something we have to aim for now.”

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