There is an old football cliché that warns players to play the game and not the occasion. While Phil Trill is far too articulate to recourse to such generalities, it is unlikely that he would disagree with the sentiment.
The manager does use the word bullish on a couple of occasions and it is apt. When it comes to his side, he brims with confidence.
Speaking in advance of Saturday’s game, Trill acknowledged: “It’s been a great start to the year. I think we are very proud of where we are now 18 months after where we started. We are looking forward to continuing to progress. With the likes of this cup final, at the moment it is our trophy. It is a trophy we deserved to win and it is a trophy that next week we will have in our hands again”.
“It’s been a good season overall. We are quite happy where we are. We won in Tallaght this year. We beat Shamrock Rovers twice. I think it’s something that we should be getting behind this weekend”.
The confidence is largely informed by their win against the same opposition on Saturday last. On that game, the manager reflected: “I think it was a bit of a dress rehearsal. They tried a couple of things in the game. We didn’t, we just played the way we played. We are not going to change. Rovers changed at times from a 3 to a 4 and posed us some problems in the build-up”.
“They are a good side. They are the ‘game changers’. They came in to change the game. It skewed a lot of things for everybody and they have good individual quality there. It is going to be a good battle. If we repeat what we did last Saturday, I think we’re going to be okay”.
“On Saturday they posed us problems. The positive was that we were able to solve them. They’ll pose more problems and different problems on Saturday. They are a good footballing side. When you come in and put that amount of money in and take that amount of players from everybody else, you are going to be a good footballing side”.
Money and purchases have made Rovers a good side
“It was important for us to get back in terms of our performance and I think it’s brought a good bit of confidence”.
United and Rovers are both in their second seasons in the women’s game and while little has separated the sides on the pitch, Trill sees a difference in approach. “It is probably a nice narrative. We’ve done things differently. We have tried to slowly grow organically. They came in quite bullish”.
“Two set-pieces have won the games. The games have all been decided by one goal. I’d be expecting something similar again this weekend”.
He was keen not to be down on the issue of losing home advantage in a coin toss. Instead, he harkened to the spirit that was there from the travelling support in the Showgrounds last year.
“We need a lot of people from Galway to come with us. We’re going into the lions’ den here. It is the National Stadium. We are going in there as just that little underdog with a bit to prove. We need people behind us. We need to sell out those buses”.
“It brings that feeling that we’re playing for something bigger. We’re not just playing for ourselves. We are playing for giving those kids good memories so that they can come on in ten years’ time and make those memories. We want to sustain success”.
There are no regrets on the manner chosen to determine the venue, although he did joke: “I didn’t toss the coin! I don’t know was it double-sided or one-sided!”
“Both ourselves and Shamrock Rovers, one of us should get the crowd in that we’ve worked really hard to get. Being honest I think that Eamonn Deacy Park and Tallaght are the two best stadiums in the country. I am obviously incredibly biased but right now, the surfaces are the two best in the country”.
He explained his ambitions for the group in simple terms. “We want to be better than where we were before. I think our points total last year was 38. The league in general has improved but we still want to be better. That is our target whether it brings us to the top 3, top 2 or first”.
Incremental progress in the league is a noble aspiration. It is sensible in the context of building the sustainable future he mentions. He is also a realist and will know that little is remembered of the Galway United team of 1992. Saturday is a chance to add to the annals of the club. No one travelling on that team bus will think otherwise.
