FAI CUP FINAL PREVIEW | Kenny hits back at McNulty’s behaviour ahead of cup final

Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny has fanned the flames ahead of Sunday’s FAI Cup final by labelling Cork City goalkeeper Mark McNulty’s recent comments as something from ‘the gutter’.

McNulty led the Cork City fans in a rendition of ‘F*ck the Lilywhites’ after John Caulfield’s side finally wrapped up the league title last Friday night, throwing in the line ‘They’re fu*king shit’ for good measure.

The clip, which was published on SoHo nightclub’s Facebook page didn’t go down well in the Dundalk camp and follows on from McNulty’s drunken comments after Cork won last year’s FAI Cup final when he made reference to the media exposure given to the Lilwyhites after their exploits in Europe.

Speaking at Dundalk’s FAI Cup final media day on Tuesday, Kenny said the goalkeeper showed a lack of respect and revealed details of how Stephen O’Donnell was also on the receiving end of some stick from the Cork players while Dundalk made their journey home from the Aviva Stadium last November after losing to Sean Maguire’s late goal.

“I would say so, yeah,” was Kenny’s response when asked if it was a lack of respect from Cork. “To be ringing someone to taunt them within a hour of that and screaming down the phone, why would you even bother doing that? I think you would think of celebrating with your family and your teammates and enjoying the experience.

“Stephen O’Donnell is the most successful captain in the modern times. He carries himself with great dignity. He’s won five league titles himself and been in two Europa Leagues. Ringing him down the phone when we’re coming out of the stadium and going up to Dundalk, taunting him on the phone and all that kind of stuff….

Kenny then returned to McNulty’s comments on Friday night, specifically the ‘F*ck the Lilywhites’ line.

“You associate people like Tommy McConville, you associate people like Barry Kehoe, brilliant players. You think of people like Martin Lawlor being 18 years here, people like that when you think of the Lilywhites. What he is doing there is insulting all of those players, all of those players in the past.

“I think you can have rivalry, teams don’t have to like each other, that’s normal, there is nothing abnormal about that, but I think there has to be a sporting respect, you have to have a sporting respect. That sort of out of the gutter really.”

Before you go…

If you found this article helpful, click the 👏 button below or share the article on Facebook so your friends can benefit from it too.