Things can only get better for Fingal side
PAISLEY ON CLOUD NINE AFTER LIFTING FIRST CUP
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Wednesday December 02 2009
THE magnitude of the moment was not lost on Stephen Paisley as he lifted the FAI Ford Cup in Tallaght last month.
As the celebrations continued throughout the county this week, the skipper was already looking forward to the next campaign and was eager for the club to build on their strong foundations.
'It was fabulous feeling and a great honour for myself personally to be captain and the first captain of Sporting Fingal to lift the cup,' the centre-half told the Fingal Independent.
'I'm sure over the next few years there'll be more trophies to come. It's only two years in existence and we need to push this on.
'If we can produce performances like we have done on the pitch this season week in, week out, then more fans will come out and give us their support.'
It wasn't looking good as the clock ticked down in Tallaght Stadium last Sunday week, but the same mental steel that had delivered so many vital results kicked in, buoyed by an unwavering support from the club's army of fans.
'Naturally enough, when you're going into the last 10 minutes and you're 1-0 down, you start thinking the worst,' Paisley recalled. 'But I think we've been doing it all season.
'We've been very determined and we've got a good team spirit and I think that came through in the last five minutes when we got the two goals.
'As we said before, the whole 12th man cliché is overused in football, but I think on the day it was certainly something that helped us and we were delighted that so many turned out and inspired us to go and win it.
'League of Ireland football has had a bad year this year. A lot of stuff has been happening off the field and I think Sporting Fingal has been a good story, just to promote the league and long may it continue.'
Sporting will begin the new season in the top tier of Irish football and with a European adventure to look forward to. And with a few additions, the club should be more than capable of holding their own amongst the big boys.
'I would like to go on and obviously finish as high up the table as possible and get a good run in the cup. But I think the most important thing is that we maintain our Premier Division status.
'I think we can kick things on and go on a little bit better, but we'll see how things go. It depends what happens next year.
'I'd say there might be one or two new players coming in next year, so we just want to be competitive in the Premier Division next year.'
- Robin KIELY
