Villa FC defeated Pike Rovers 1-0 in the FAI Junior Cup thanks to a 53rd minute Conor Kilgannon strike at the weekend to hand the club its first ever Junior Cup.
The final was held at Turners Cross in Cork and it was the Waterford club who triumphed. Speaking to FinalWhistle reporter Sam Curtin after the game, manager Conor Coad and players Craig Dunphy and Luke Walsh gave their reactions.
When asked about the achievement, Conor Coad said:
“It is a fantastic feeling. It is an absolutely historic day for us here. At the start of the season, it is only something we could have dreamed of. We never won our league at local level so, to go and do that last week and back it up with the big one today, it is something dreams are made of.”
When asked about the support at the game, the manager said:
“It is a massive club effort today. The group of players that we have today, there are so many of them that have played with our club underage and come through into our premier team from the schoolboy, so it means a lot to them and their families.”
Coad thinks it is “great” by putting “Waterford football on the map” to “represent the county.”
Goalkeeper Craig Dunphy echoed his manager thoughts on the past few weeks at the club winning the double.
“Yea it is unbelievable. We had our first premier league in Waterford there last week so, to make it a first Junior Cup is unbelievable.
“Today is our day and we finally did. It is great for Waterford football and the county, and the whole league is behind us.”
Dunphy was also quick to praise the support from the travelling fans when asked.
“Crowds are unbelievable. They were behind us from the first whistle but there is one man who can’t be with us today, unfortunately we lost him at the start of the year, Ryan Butler.”
The goalkeeper remembered the late former Waterford FC player who played for Villa as well.
“He is up there looking down on us and we did it for him.”
Luke Walsh explained how it was “great to make history two weeks in a row” for the club.
“We didn’t expect that many people to come up”, he said. “When we came out just before the game and we saw all the green and white flags, navy tops, screaming and shouting, it was great to see.”
“Hopefully the Waterford teams can kick on in these competitions. This should be massive for Waterford football.”
