Saint Patrick's end long Irish FAI Cup wait

Saint Patrick's Athletic FC ended their 53-year wait for the Irish FAI Cup as they defeated Derry City FC 2-0 in the final at the Dublin Arena.

The Saints were finally rewarded for their patience thanks to a pair of second-half goals from striker Christy Fagan, having finished runners-up in the competition seven times since their last FAI Cup victory in 1961.

Playing in front of 17,038 spectators in the capital, St Pats dominated the first half but were unable to beat Derry City goalkeeper Gerard Doherty. That all changed on 51 minutes when a superb pass from Keith Fahey set up ex-Manchester United FC trainee Fagan, whose shot took a slight deflection to creep over the line.

Derry rallied late on with chances from Barry McNamee and Rory Patterson, but the Saints held on to claim the trophy, their win secured in added time when Fagan pounced on an error by Barry Molloy to slide in his second goal of the day. "It's a great feeling to score in a cup final when it means so much to everyone," said Fagan afterwards.

"I enjoyed that," added midfielder Keith Fahey. "We had a great feeling going into the final and we did it on the day. There was a lot of talk about our cup hoodoo, but as players we tried to stay away from that and just win it, no matter how long it was since we last won it. It's a cup and a medal, but it means so much to the people here for us to win it at last."