Darragh Burns goal ensured so much for Derry City on a Cup final day when Irish football was again the winner

The Candystripes and The Blues remembered one of their own around a game that finally delivered

Cathal Dervan, Editor

There was one man who couldn’t lose whatever the result at the Aviva Stadium in Sunday’s Club Orange FAI Cup final. He wasn’t even there but Derry City did Jimmy McGeough proud with their win and Waterford FC did him proud in their defeat.

That Darragh Burns, a man with a Belfast father scored the only goal of the game was indeed appropriate on a day full of appropriateness as domestic Irish football again proved itself above the ordinary.

Jimmy McGeogh, if you don’t know of him, won the Irish League and Irish Cup in the Derry City colours then secured an incredible five League of Ireland titles with Waterford United, as they were known back in his day.

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A stretch too far…

8 November 2026; Darragh Burns of Derry City scores his side's first goal as Waterford goalkeeper Stephen McMullan attempts to make a save during the 2026 Club Orange Men's FAI Cup final match between Derry City and Waterford at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

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