Farry wins on penalties

In the final match of the Irish football season, my team, Shelbourne, played Michael Farry's team, Sligo Rovers, in the Cup Final.
For those of you not up to speed on Irish football, Shels were the cream of Irish football from around 1992 to 2006, when overspending led to the near extinction of the club. Since then we have spent five years in the wilderness of the First Division.
Sligo's star on the other hand has been on the ascendancy for the past five years. This was their third Cup Final on the trot and they finished second in the Premier Division. As such, they were overwhelming favourites for the match at the Aviva Stadium yesterday.
To be honest, I feared a drubbing. Consequently, although we lost, on penalties, at the end of 120 minutes, it did not evoke the guttedness I might have expected. We played valiantly and pluckily but it just wasn't to be. Other commentators have said we lost as much to a rather one-sided referee than to Sligo but I don't like to criticise. It's a hard enough job at the best of times.
Congratulations to Sligo. I would much sooner lose to them in a Cup Final than to Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians, Cork, Derry, Dundalk or St. Pats.