No home comforts for Daly as he plots Aviva return

Dundalk manager Jon Daly says that he has no issue with been drawn away from home in the Sports Direct FAI Cup second round, after winning the 2023 edition with St Patrick’s Athletic without playing a home tie.

Daly’s new side face a Louth derby away to Drogheda United at the first hurdle this time around, after the draw on Thursday afternoon pitted the rivals against each other.

As manager of the Saints last season, Daly overcame trips to Longford Town, Derry City, Finn Harps and Cork City, before beating Bohemians 3-1 at the neutral setting of the Aviva Stadium in the final last November.

After being sacked by the Inchicore outfit last month, Daly has missed out on defending the trophy with St Pat’s, but his recent move to Dundalk means that he still has the chance to reach back-to-back finals in a personal capacity.

“As a manager, I’ve not been drawn at home in the cup yet,” Daly told the Dundalk website after the draw.

“At Pat’s last year, we won it playing away from home all the way through so it’s just continued that theme for me.

“When it comes to cup draws, primarily you want a home draw but we’ll take what we’ve got and we’ll just have to try and and get through and see where it takes us. It’s away from home against our nearest rivals so it’s going to be a tough game, but it’s one that we’ll look forward to.”

The Louth derby is one of three all-Premier Division encounters that are set to take place across the weekend of 20 and 21 July, with Bohemians set to host Shamrock Rovers and Derry City welcoming St Pat’s.

Daly added that the guaranteed exit of three of the league’s heavyweights could open the door for other clubs to put together a cup run.

“They’re six massive teams and three of them are definitely going out so, straight off the bat, you’re losing 30% of the teams from the top division in the first round,” he said

“It means that going forward, it’s probably going to be a very open draw for the teams that do go through but that’s something you can only look at once you get through.”

Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup round two draw in full:

Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers

Athlone Town v Ringmahon Rovers

Drogheda United v Dundalk

Sligo Rovers v Cobh Wanderers

Ballyfermot United v Leeds AFC

Cork City v Finn Harps

Galway United v Longford Town

Treaty United v Kilbarrack United

Waterford FC v Cockhill Celtic

Wayside Celtic v Wexford FC

Gorey Rangers v UCD

Pike Rovers v Midleton FC

Bray Wanderers v Shelbourne

Wilton United v Carrigaline United

Cobh Ramblers v Kerry FC

Derry City v St Patrick’s Athletic