Connolly’s Candystripes march on

Maitiú Monaghan

Clones native Mark Connolly has led Derry City to the semi-finals of the FAI Cup.

Connolly was appointed as director of football for the club earlier this year, before taking over as interim manager in the middle of the season.

The Monaghan man has previously represented the Candystripes as a player, where he won the FAI Cup in 2022.

After spending much of his career playing in England and Scotland, Connolly spent three-and-a-half seasons playing at the Brandywell, where he made 115 appearances across all competitions.

That experience showed in the cup quarter-finals, when Connolly’s Derry side came from behind to beat Dundalk (another of Connolly's former clubs) 4-2 and book their place in the semi-final.

Derry fell behind to the Louth outfit in the 12th minute at the Brandywell, but battled back into the tie with a goal from James McClean 13 minutes later.

From then on they were dominant, and led 4-1 in injury time, before a last consolation goal from Leo Gaxha in injury-time.

However, Connolly doesn't have the luxury of resting on his laurels. As they prepare to face Galway Utd in next months semis, they have a fully loaded league campaign to fulfil. An away win against Shelbourne, and a draw far from home against Waterford on Monday evening (September 14) have Connolly's Derry side up to fifth in the table.

In a curtain raiser for the all important semi-final clash, Derry will host Galway United at the Brandywell on Friday evening.

For Connolly, the goal will be to keep his side fit and focused during a hectic couple of weeks, before his date with destiny with the Connaught side on October 10.

The Clones man will be all too aware of the stakes, with the winner of the semi-final heading to the Aviva Stadium on the biggest date in the Irish football calendar.