11Sept20-Sligo Rovers-FINAL_A5 11/09/2020 16:09 Page 30
Thank you for the days Stephen Bennett
@stebenn15
Often in times of difficulty we can think back to a time when things were a little bit rosier. During this pandemic, we might think about the time you could walk into a pub and order a pint without having to buy food and keep an eye on the time. Or jumping on a plane without having to worry about putting the whole country at risk as a result.
years - means there are too many to mention.
In the case of Pats as we struggle through this Covid-inflicted half-season, many of us have gone back to moments like Christy Fagan's clincher in the 2014 FAI Cup final against Derry City.
I have my own personal reasons for having a particular grá for that 2014 team. My Da.
What's not to like? The finish? The Pats crowd in rapturous celebration behind the goal? The sense of relief that the Cup was coming back to Inchicore after 53 years? The commentary? It's a short clip of pure unadulterated joy and the warm glow surrounding clips like that pretty much sums up the second coming of Liam Buckley at the club. Sure, all good things must come to an end. Football managers will know this better than anyone. But the overriding feeling is that of a great era for St Patrick's Athletic under a manager who produced arguably the club's best brand of football.
Bucko's team - in particular the side that won the 2013 Premier Division title and the FAI Cup in the following year - were something special.
Having travelled the highways and byways supporting St Pat's over five decades, he lost his battle with Parkinson's dementia only a few weeks before that victory at the Aviva. He died the day before that FAI Cup semi-final against Finn Harps - a resounding 6-1 victory. His last game at Richmond Park was viewed from the wheelchair section - a win over Limerick in 2013 on a rare Saturday afternoon. In the days after that final victory, elation tinged with dejection, I found myself going back to when we took the short walk down to 'Richer' to stand on the Camac side's grassy knoll back in 80s.
I stand corrected on this one, as my memory of watching Pats starts from the early 1980s.
Before we'd make our way to the Camac there would be a customary stop-off to buy a packet of sweets from Mrs Lakes' stall which was stationed directly behind the goal where the Patrons Stand now lies.
The League-winning teams of Brian Kerr and Pat Dolan were exceptional, and deservedly got their rewards to match the talent on show.
Mrs Lakes was clever in her postition of that stall. She and her pram full of sweets were safe behind the nets.
They are now household names and the amount of league titles - the club has won 6 league titles in 30
Expectations weren't great back then. It was more of an exercise in hope with occasional glimpses of
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2020 Season • Vol. 32 • No. 5 • St Patrick’s Athletic v SLIGO Rovers
