Initially, I felt I'd blog the usual post-match summary of the Drogheda game up in Sligo which I attended with my friend Alfie. The Drogs put up a spirited fight but went down 3-1 to a much rejuvenated Sligo who have had quite the success against Louth opposition in recent weeks. On the return journey to Dublin my daughter rang and asked if I would like to join her and her boyfriend in Cusack's on the North Strand Road for a Patrick's Day drink. Normally I find Patrick's Day too rowdy and tend not to go out on the swally. But as Liverpool were playing Manchester United in the FA Cup I told her I'd head over to her from Connolly Station and watch the second half of the game.
So that was what decided tonight's post. The fate of the Drogs will have to wait until later in the week.
The bar was full with a mixture of Patrick's Day revellers, swollen by the presence of Manchester United and Liverpool fans. It was twenty minutes before my daughter managed to find a stool for me to plant myself on, one that swivelled. Most comfortable bar stool I have sat on in yonks. Liverpool were 2-1 up as they emerged for the second half. For most of it they seemed the better side but a failure to clear their lines allowed Manchester United to draw level, sending the game into extra time. Each set of supporters cheered when their team scored but there was no in-your-face bragging rights. Two woeful blunders in extra time allowed the Manchester men to steal a march on Liverpool by emulating the Scousers' penchant for scoring late winners. Now Liverpool are out of the cup. The quadruple has gone but I never seriously considered it as a realistic prospect. Still to lose a game they should comfortably have won left a bad taste in the mouth made no less acrid by Guinness and Jameson.
When the game was 3-3 courtesy of a careless pass from a weary Darwin Nunez I had flashbacks to the 1990 semi final in the same competition which saw Liverpool knocked out, going down 4-3 to Crystal Palace. And so it turned out. Harvey Elliot who came on as a sub and put the Merseyside men in front in extra time blundered after a corner kick, leading to a quick United counter attack which sealed Liverpool's fate.
It is disappointing that Klopp will leave his post at the season's end without this trophy under his belt but ten Hag needed the victory more than the German. This victory gives him some breathing space.
While it was a game for Liverpool to win there can be no churlishness shown towards United who did what they had to do and never gave up. The Liverpool boss summed it up:
Our decision making was not great. You have to accept the result. They deserve to go to the next round. It was a period in the second half when we should have finished it but we didn't and we know they could come back.
On the train journey home a Dundalk woman sat in the seat beside me. She had been on the beer in Dublin for Patrick's Day and told me all abut it! The one consolation was that she didn't like sport so both of us were spared a inquest-cum-rant on Liverpool's misfortune. Worse ways, I guess, to conclude a disappointing sporting weekend.
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