Former Rangers striker Jon Daly has steered St Patrick’s Athletic to a stunning comeback victory over Bohemians to lift the FAI Cup.
The 40-year-old saw his St Patrick’s Athletic side come from behind to defeat Bohemians in front of a record crowd of almost 44k in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.
Ex-Celtic striker Jonathan Afolabi opened the scoring for the Bohs before Mark Doyle equalised for St Pat’s and an own goal from Krystian Nowak put the Inchicore side ahead.
Tommy Longer would then clinch the Irish FA Cup in a 3-1 victory which sees St Patrick’s Athletic lift the trophy for the fifth time in their history and Jon Daly get his maiden piece of silverware as a manager.
St Patrick’s Athletic lifted the trophy with seven players aged 21 or under in their side with Jon Daly claiming after the match that the potential in the team is part of the reason why he took the management gig back in the summer.
This was after Jon Daly was initially appointed as the club’s assistant manager to former boss Tim Clancy, who he replaced at St Patrick’s Athletic.
“I have knocked ones (jobs) back in the past,” said Jon Daly. “As a young manager you have to be careful about what you do and when you do it. But I firmly believed we could go and achieve.”
Jon Daly pulls on Rangers experience with St Patrick’s Athletic
Spotted consoling the defeated Bohemians players at full-time, St Patrick’s Athletic manager Jon Daly also namedropped Rangers legend Ally McCoist when asked about the incident.
The Irishman claims that an act of humility in defeat from the Ibrox legend stuck with him from 2010 and acted as inspiration to his reaction to the defeated Bohs stars.
“When we won the Cup in 2010, we beat Rangers, in the quarter-final, the year we stopped them from doing the double,” explains Daly.
“Ally McCoist waited and shook all the hands coming in. That stuck in my head and was one of the main reasons I wanted to go and play for him.”
Whilst Jon Daly is perhaps more famed for the six years he spent at Dundee United between 2007 and 2013, the striker spent two years at Rangers as the club climbed back up the divisions.
Playing for the club between 2013 and 2015, the Irish striker’s work-rate made him popular with fans whilst his 29 goals in 72 games helped the club to promotion from League One.
Speaking of Finals in Dublin, one leading Rangers star is already dreaming of this year’s Europa League showpiece in the Republic of Ireland capital.
