Letterkenny Rovers boss says Patsy Collins' passing inspired his side to victory

Letterkenny Rovers manager Stephen McConnell said his pre-match team-talk almost wrote itself in Galway on Saturday.

About three-quarters of an hour before kick-off, McConnell, his assistant manager Anthony Gorman and club secretary Eric White were motioned at Fahy’s Field by Nicky Gormley, who told them of the passing of his uncle Patsy Collins.

Nicky had followed in Patsy’s footsteps in taking the role of kitman with the Leckview Park club and although his uncle was in Donegal Hospice, opted to make the trip with the squad, who were due to face Mervue United in the last 32 of the FAI Junior Cup.

“Nicky told us that Patsy - known as ‘Big P’ - had just passed away,” McConnell told DonegalLive. “Nicky had decided to join us in Galway and we can’t thank him enough for that. We gathered the players in and told them: ‘Let’s do this for Patsy and the family today’.

“Patsy was involved in Letterkenny Rovers for as long as I can remember and if you met him up the town you’d always have something to talk about. He was a great character and not many got the better of him when it came to a debate down the years. We want to pass on our condolences to his family.”

Mervue had planned a minute’s silence to mark the passing of Martin Horgan, who was a teacher at St Mary’s College in Galway and heavily involved in the local football scene down the years. Horgan was the brother of former Fanad United and Finn Harps manager Ollie. When Letterkenny officials asked if would it be possible for Patsy Collins to be mentioned as well. Their hosts were more than accommodating.

Rovers were considered huge outsiders against a Mervue side who were in the League of Ireland as recently as 2013. However, McConnell’s side had paved their way with hard-fought wins throughout the competition to date - 2-1 against Carndonagh FC, 2-1 when they took on Rathmullan Celtic and then a 1-0 victory over Aileach.

When they reached the national stages, there was a fine penalty shootout win last time out against North End United, the Wexford team who had won the FAI Junior Cup in 2018. A tense fourth-round tie ended scoreless, with goalkeeper Blake Forkan and Luke Parke the eventual heroes in a 5-3 shootout victory.

Forkan was at it again on Saturday, with a host of stunning saves as Rovers won out 3-2 against Mervue, to seal a last-16 berth in the competition alongside fellow Donegal competitors, Cockhill Celtic and Buncrana Hearts from the Inishowen League Premier Division.

Rovers led three times, with Lee McMonagle, Dean McCarry and Adrian Delap scoring their goals, with Mervue getting back on terms twice through a Colin Kelly free-kick and andLewis Waweru’s well-placed equaliser, which made it 2-2 at the break. Joel Gorman picked up a second yellow card 11 minutes from time.

“There were a couple of times late in the game, when we were 3-2 in front but down to 10 men, that shots came in and I thought ‘that’s definitely in’ only for Blake to keep them somehow out,” McConnell added. “Overall, it was a great result and we’re delighted to get through, although we knew we’d have to perform better than we did against Merview if we aim to go further. That said, it’s great to be in the draw now and it would be great to get a home one.”

The sixth round draw takes place this week, with the fixtures down for decision on the weekend of February 10/11.