No Cup final deja vu for Joe Redmond

The Sports Direct FAI Cup final between Bohemians and St Patrick's Athletic is a repeat of the 2021 decider, but Joe Redmond's experience of the big day will be rather different than last time around, with a pre-match jaunt to the pub certainly not on the cards.

Redmond, who grew up supporting the Saints, signed for the club just weeks after the penalty shootout success over the Gypsies having spent the second part of the season playing for Drogheda United.

The former Birmingham City academy player told RTÉ Sport: "I left with my brother and we went to the pub before, and then we got to the Aviva about quarter past two.

"The feeling of it filling up... Obviously, you don't see that as a player. You're kind of just focused on the warm-up.

"So it's kind of a different experience down on the pitch, but it's definitely an experience that I'm looking forward to and relishing."

St Pat's prevailed 4-3 on penalties two years ago, with Redmond recalling: "I was right behind the goal and the Pat's end for that.

"It doesn't feel like it was two years ago. And now to be leading the team out in the Aviva, it's a privilege to be captain of this football club.

"But the memories I have from being behind that goal, it means a lot to me. And I'm going to be using that in the build-up because I know the feeling of when the peno was missed and then the peno was scored and the feeling, the relief that you get from the fans. There's no sort of feeling like that in football.

And I think when you win a game, or you're a fan at a game, you only get that feeling for a couple of minutes. And you try and hold on to it for as long as you can. And that's definitely something that will be used in the build-up."

Joe Redmond was a St Pat's fan at the Aviva for