Derry City legend says players 'should be ashamed' after FAI Cup final display

A season that promised so much ended in desperate disappointment for Derry City who but in an abject display in the FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium. Former Candystripes star Gareth McGlynn couldn't hide his angerafter the side lost 2-0 to relegation-threatened Drogheda United.

The late-season slump from Ruaidhri Higgins' side continued right up to the final day as they suffered a shock loss to Drogheda on the back of throwing away a golden opportunity to win the Premier Division title. Derry finished fourth in the end with Shelbourne crowned champions.

They still had major silverware to play for though, and thousands of fans made the long journey to Dublin for the showpiece final. Drogheda's Andrew Quinn opened the scoring with a first half strike while a second-half penalty, converted by Douglas James-Taylor doomed Derry to a heartbreaking defeat.

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Derry looked lethargic throughout and the performance certainly annoyed McGlynn, who did not hold back in his criticism on RTE after the game.

"The Derry City players let the city down tonight, they've let the manager down, and they've let the city down, and it's not good enough," fumed McGlynn.

"You can have all the technical ability in the world if you want, but if you haven't got the heart to go and do something and the need to go and do something, then you're not going to achieve it, and they need to be damn ashamed of themselves."

Ruadhri Higgins' side seemed to be in a two-horse race with Shelbourne for the entirety of the season yet finished fourth behind league winners Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers, and St Pat's.

In the run-in, Derry won just one of their last seven league games, and that victory came against bottom-placed Dundalk.

The cup final result will heap further pressure on boss Higgins after Derry invested heavily in recent times in bringing some of the finest talent in the league to the Brandywell club.

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