INTERVIEW: Tommy Lonergan

Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Turners Cross to take on Munster Rivals Cork City FC in our Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup Third Round clash, we caught up Tommy Lonergan to discuss the game, his season with the Blues to date, plus much more.

Tommy, it’s an exciting game tomorrow night against Cork City in the FAI Cup. Whatever about playing Cork, but the cup is always special, isn’t it?

“Yeah, the cup’s a massive competition. It’s a great way to get into Europe and the fans love the cup. If you can get a good cup run, a big day out in the Aviva, so we’ll give it a good lash tomorrow. Of course, there’s only about five games to get to the Aviva. Obviously, Cork will be a tough game, but hopefully if we can get past them and get a few favourable teams in the next few draws, you can go far.”

From your own point of view, do you like the cup or do you prefer the cut and thrust of the league?

“It doesn’t really matter. They’re both kind of different games. Obviously, it’s kind of in the cup, it’s won and done. Every single game is like a cup final because if you don’t win it, you’re out. Yeah, I like both dimensions of each.”

Just touching on the league action for a moment, how did you find last weeks game in Drogheda?

“Yeah, obviously it was a tough game in Drogheda. It’s a small pitch. It’s kind of tough for the likes of me and Conan and Podge to get on the ball, but there’s not much space. But I have to say that we dug in well. We fought. We worked hard. We always work hard as a team. But yeah, there’s a few chances to put down. You can flip the side and say they had a few chances as well to win the game. So I think probably a draw was probably fairest against Drogheda. But yeah, to get a draw there, it’s a tough place to go. But obviously we’re looking to win every game, so we were a bit disappointed as well.”

And if you thought Sullivan and Lampark was tight, Turner’s Cross is even tighter.

“I know, yeah. The last game we played in the league, it was a great occasion. The atmosphere there was brilliant. Obviously it’s a Munster derby and it’ll probably be the same on Friday with the cup. It’s a really big game for Cork as well.”

Of course, we have to think back to 1980 when it was last coming over the bridge in Waterford. So that’s a nice incentive as well to try and bring something to the fans this season.

“That’s it. That’s what fans want. They want silverware, they want trophies, they want big days out. And obviously as players, that’s what you want to give because they come in week in, week out, trapping miles around the country, supporting you. And even on your bad days or your good days, they’re still there no matter what’s supporting you and cheering you on. To get a good cup run to win the cup, it would be an amazing feeling for us and the fans.”

And they’ve been fantastic this season, the Waterford fans as well, haven’t they?

“They really have been behind you all the way. Every single game, they’re there in Drogheda the other day. Let’s swap 240 miles round trip. And they were there, you could hear them all night long. So it’s a real boost. And I remember the last time when I scored against Cork and they were going mad and just seeing the limbs in the crowd, it was unbelievable. So hopefully a moment like that again on Friday would be great.”

That is the kind of passion, particularly amongst their derby and particularly the Waterford-Cork game, isn’t it?

“Yeah, no, it was. Because obviously I’ve seen a few goals going in and the fans have gone mad. But it’s just, I don’t know, there’s something about that. If you watch the video, it’s just people flying all over each other and it was crazy. So hopefully we can do that again tomorrow.”