Ahead of tomorrow’s Mark Farren Cup Final, we caught up with Waterford FC MU17 captain Gavin Mitchell who gave his honest thoughts going into the showdown with St. Patrick’s Athletic FC at the Carlisle Grounds (3:30pm).
Mitchell joined the Blues three years ago at MU14 level, having previously spent time with underage local schoolboy clubs St. Paul’s FC & Waterford Crystal FC. A Waterford native, Gavin was honoured to receive the captains armband to represent the Blues this year, mentioning: “Captaining your team to a national final is a great feeling and it’s a sense of proudness for me and my family. Luckily enough for me we’ve a squad full of leaders so having great lads like that can make my job a lot easier sometimes.”
“The whole squad is absolutely buzzing and raring to go come Saturday. We can’t wait to showcase how good we are infront of a big crowd. They’re are some nerves no doubt but we’re excited and come Saturday when the warm ups are done and it’s time to go then nerves will go and we will do our job on the pitch.”
“It would mean the absolute world for us to win come Saturday. It’s been a tough season for me personally and for the team. We had a poor start to the season and to win the cup would be a feeling we would never forget. It would be a surreal feeling for the whole squad and staff, and we are gonna do everything in our power to win this game Saturday.”
Looking back on their semi-final win over UCD AFC at SETU Arena last month, Gavin spoke of how much of a special day that was to knock out their until-then undefeated opponents: “We went into the semi-final as set up as possible – we had a great week of training and after analysing UCD our coaching staff had us fully ready for the task ahead. We came out firing from the start. We gifted UCD a goal just after half-time for them to take the lead.”
“At the start of the season, we would’ve folded and this game would’ve finished 5-1 in favour of UCD but we have come along way since then and didn’t fold getting an equaliser with individual brilliance from Temmy Gazal and Bobby Keohan. The game went to extra-time, and lads were pulling up so changes were made. Ben Fahey came on and caused UCD all sorts of problems. Finally, he hit the net with a brave header against the keeper on the end of my cross. We ran out this game 3-2 winners and well deserved as we were by far the better team on the day. UCD had lost their first game all season away to Waterford and what a feeling it was winning that game for all of us involved.”
Focus shifted straight to the training ground this weekend ahead of Saturday’s clash, with Gavin explaining how the group are doing everything they can to give themselves the best chance in Bray this weekend. “Training has been great so far this week. We are prepared very well because of great analysis from our coaches Sean Geoghegan, Seb Fialkiewicz and Rob Clifford. We know what St. Pats are looking to do and we know what we’re gonna do to win this game – we have spent a lot of time on the picth this week working hard. There’s 25 lads in training each night so lads know they won’t get in the squad or won’t get minutes on Saturday but that hasn’t stopped anyone from driving standards of each other – everyone is putting it in fully in training, fighting for spots in the squad Saturday making training very competitive and good.”
Mitchell finished off by mentioning how much him & the squad are looking forward to showcasing their ability on the mainstage on Saturday, with the game set to be broadcast live on LOITV: “We all can’t wait to showcase how good we are infront of the fans Saturday and those watching on LOITV. We can get over looked because we are Waterford – a big club – but some people will hear the name St. Pats and will automatically think we’ve lost but come Saturday they will see how good we are. To play infront of a big crowd and show everyone how good we are and that we can fight with these tops teams. It will be an unreal feeling for me and all the boys to play infront of a big crowd in a good ground, and we’re all ready to go and put things right”.
Tomorrow’s Mark Farren Cup Final against St. Patrick’s Athletic FC at the Carlisle Grounds, Bray, (3:30pm) will be broadcast live on LOITV from 3:15pm. For those attending the game, adult tickets are priced at €5 with U12s priced at just €2, and can be purchased now by clicking HERE.
