Can New Farm Utd Go All The Way?
Round 4 of the FFA Cup gets into full swing this evening with eight ties taking place including the tie which features giant killers New Farm United, who sensationally knocked out Flight Centre Brisbane Premier League leaders Grange Thistle in a penalty shootout last round.
The hero that night was New Farm keeper David Ryan who saved two spot kicks before converting the winning penalty to put his side through to their RD4 clash away at Ipswich City tonight.
David only came to Australia in 2016, originating from County Clare in Ireland where he has previously played for a number of League of Ireland clubs including Limerick FC, St Patricks Athletic and Cork City. New Farm being his first club since moving downunder. We spoke with him recently to find out what went through his mind when knocking out Grange. Ed. You were the hero in the penalty shootout against Grange Thistle, what went through your mind when you made those saves? DR. It was a great feeling to save two and score the winner!!! I was excited for the pens and when I saved the first the adrenaline was flowing and I was buzzing from then. Then I stepped up to take the 4th kick and thankfully it went in and caused a big upset! Ed. Were they calculated saves or you just guessed right? DR. Well we went down 1-0 in the first 15 and that was due to an error on my behalf so I had to pick myself up and I then made a couple of important saves at crucial times so my confidence grew. I was thinking the game could go to pens when we equalised so I had it at the back of my mind so focused on what was to come. As far as the pens, I have had good exposure to top quality players over the years playing back in Ireland at a professional level. It was calculated to a certain degree but luck plays its part also. Ed. Did the team feel they had a good chance against their Flight Centre Brisbane Premier League opponents given the start to the season you've had? DR. We have been scoring a lot of goals lately and the lads have put in some solid performances so we had super confidence coming in. We knew it was going to be tough seeing as Grange are a level above us and are in flying form, but credit has to go to our manager who believed in us and we stuck to our formation of recent games which is working well for us. We did start a bit slow and were two down after 20 mins but we stuck to our game plan and grew into the game and caused them a lot of problems so I think we were deserved winners. Ed. You had some vocal support at Lanham Park on the night, how much did that help? DR. Yeah the boys were funny alright, getting on Grange's backs and it may have rattled them a bit, but I think the lads on the pitch were what caused the problems! Ed. At what point during the game did you feel you could get a result? DR. After we conceded the 2nd goal we grew more and more in confidence and I think Thistle took us for granted and we punished them. Obviously their having a man sent off helped. It was a very good game to be involved in and we were delighted with the result. Ed. You've drawn Ipswich City in the next round who you've also recently played in the league and drew against, do you think you can continue on your cup run? DR. Yeah that was an interesting game to say the least, a few irrational decisions during the game from both sides. It’s a good draw for us so we shouldn’t fear Ipswich and nor should they fear us, so it will be another close game and hopefully we will turn them over. Ed. If you do progress to RD5, who would you like to face next? DR. We will get through the Ipswich game first. It’s my first season in Australian football so all these teams are new to me. We just have to look after ourselves and keep pushing on. New Farm's tie at Ipswich City kicks-off at 7.30pm at Sutton Park.
