No Drogs ⚽ Bohs ⚽ Pat's

Anthony McIntyre ⚽ Drogheda United didn't make it to the FAI Cup final but that didn't stop the four of us turning up.

Paddy, myself and our two sons reunited for the trip. As of late my son has been hitting the night clubs and not coming to Weavers with us, preferring the allure of skirt to the draw of soccer. As Paddy muses, at that age the greatest pull comes in a shape different to a ball.

It was Paddy's idea to go to the final and he secured the tickets. Great call on his part. The attendance was a record for a FAI Cup final. 43,811 overtook the previous record of 41,238 set at the end of World War 2. A great fillip for the local game.

It was ten years since I had been to an FAI Cup final, then too with my son, and this one did not come close to the excitement of the previous one. Then, Drogheda were playing but lost 3-2 in the closing minutes of the game. Bohemians against St Patrick's simply didn't live up to that encounter

Before, after and during the game, the three adults in our company were on the swall, the hip flask an essential travelling companion. I was less than happy to have to share its contents with my son inside the ground upon returning from the loo to find that he had knocked his Jack Daniels over. I pace the flask to last the game. Anyway.

Earlier, from pub to pub we meandered our way to the stadium. The rain of Drogheda had given way to the clear skies of Dublin once we hit Connolly Station. The day was warmish but we had overcompensated in anticipation of a colder clime so paid the price as we walked to the Aviva. At our last watering hole we opted to stand outside in the fresh air.

I was wearing a Palestine scarf and while taking a photo of it held aloft in one of the pubs some of the Bohs fans began clapping. During the game it was stirring to see Palestine flags on display at the Bohs end. Normal life goes on but while it does we constantly pause to remind ourselves that for others such as the Palestinians of Gaza, the type of lives they are forced to live has no place in a civilised world. Subject to Israeli blitzkrieg with a particular focus on the extermination of children, theirs is a hell on earth. The expression normal life sounds like a foreign language there.

Paddy had told me about fans at Liverpool games being asked to remove Palestine banners or flags. It amazed me that a club which knows something about suffering and grief could adopt such a stance. I had stated that if asked to remove my own I would refuse, preferring to be ejected rather than ditch one simple act of solidarity just to watch a game of soccer. While viewing the game thoughts drifted into my mind of Palestinian kids kicking a ball around a beach in 2014. Israeli Einsatzgruppen murdered them.

The game itself was not a four goal thriller. Bohemians got out of the traps much too early with a penalty from the accomplished boot of Jonathan Afolabi, now being considered for a transfer to one of the English Championship sides. But that was it. An early injection of confidence proved a false dawn. They didn't produce much after that and conceded an easy headed goal a quarter way in. By then I sensed that the first letter of the engraving was already on the cup and it wasn't B. This was reinforced when Afolabi missed a great chance which seemed easier to score. An own goal followed by a defensive error leading to a further score secured it for the Pat's.

On a couple of occasions play was delayed due to flares being launched onto the pitch from behind the goals. Visibility was at one point reduced to a pea soup fog. Flares, while exciting for those firing them are a dangerous nuisance. We were in the Bohs end of the ground and could hear their own fans complain at the repeated salvos. The sentinel firefighters who extinguished each of them were giving a warm round of applause as they left their posts, mission accomplished.

It was the second time in three years that the Bohs fell prey to a better Pat's side in the cup final. Bohs now miss out on European soccer nest season as a result of the defeat, Shelbourne the beneficiaries of Bohemians' misfortune. The latter destined to a Gypsy wander on a home patch, Europe cut off to them and feeling much like those Brexiteers who promised so much and delivered so little.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.