DEFENDER Mark Connolly wants Derry City to finish the season on the front foot when they face FAI Cup finalists St Patrick’s Athletic at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in the final game of the 2023 campaign.
The Candystripes know if they avoid defeat to the Saints they’ll finish in runners-up spot for the second season running and the 31-year-old insists Ruaidhrí Higgins’ squad have set standards and have to ensure they keep to them.
“I don’t think it matters who we’re playing and what stage of the season it’s at, we just have to make sure that we set standards and do as well as we can,” he explained.
“It’s no different whether we’re playing for something or nothing, but there’s always something to play for at this club.
“We’re playing to finish second, yes ideally we wanted to win the league, but it didn’t happen, the next best thing is to finish second and that’s the way we’re going about things. It’s going to be a tough game, St Pat’s are a tough team, but it’s a game we’re all looking forward to and can’t wait to try and finish the season on a high.”
In their last meeting, in August, Jon Daly’s men knocked the FAI Cup holders out of the competition after a penalty shoot-out at the Brandywell and Connolly concedes that defeat was a hard one to take at the time.
“Listen they came up here with a game plan and they wanted it to go as long as it could without a goal being scored and it worked for them. I think we probably deserved more from the game but that’s football,” added the Clones native.
“Yes, you always look back if you didn’t win certain games, you want to sort of change that last result and make sure the next one is a positive one, so yeah for us we want to win the football match on Friday night.
“We want to go out and put on a show for the fans and finish the season on a high. We want to get on the ball and play attacking football, then as I said, finish off on a high and then we’ll switch off before getting ready for next season.”
The big centre-back has had a somewhat injury-marred season and because of that he’s already looking forward to coming back for pre-season training in January and looking to put things right in 2024.
“It has been an extremely frustrating year for me,” he said.
“From winning the (FAI) Cup last year to starting this season by winning the President’s Cup, to going unbeaten in our first four league games and winning three of those games.
“To be honest the season started how I had imagined it and then I ripped my hamstring against Dundalk and then from there to now it has been a stop-start season for me.
“It has been really, really frustrating and a season that I haven’t enjoyed to be honest, but there’s still stuff I can take from the year, I can learn from it and get better; but my life has always been playing football and whenever I’m not playing football, I’m not that happy.
“I think the boys to be fair have done well this season but I think we just missed that wee bit to get over the line, we just didn’t do enough and watching from the sidelines has been difficult.
“There’s a lot of stuff that I haven’t enjoyed because of being injured and not being able to play, but obviously the Europa Conference League games was something I enjoyed, it was my first time playing in Europe and that was really enjoyable to experience, but as a whole I haven’t been really fit this season.
“I’ve had injuries and came back but I haven’t been able to show what I’m about, so yeah looking back this year has been frustrating but I either feel sorry for myself or I make sure that I come back in January for pre-season ready to go.
“I would say a few boys are looking forward to the season ending because it has been a long year and it has been a tough year for a few of the boys, but for me more mentally I’ll try to switch off, but physically I’ll be making sure I’m ready for what is a big year for me.
“I’ve come back here and I want to win trophies and I want to win the league and that’s my goal and my aim and why I came to Derry City.”
