Clearer Water Irish Cup Final; Cliftonville v Linfield
(Windsor Park, Saturday, 2.30pm, live on BBC2)
 
CHRIS CURRAN isn’t going to let the outcome of Saturdays Irish Cup final determine the experience of his Solitude journey to date.

The 33-year-old is in his 10th season at the club and bar the Irish Cup, the Cavan native has lifted every other major honour in local football.

Curran and team-mate Joe Gormley are sole survivors of the club’s last league success after he made his move from Ballinamallard United in the summer of 2013 and he won’t get too drawn up on the potential of adding that final piece of the jigsaw to his collection at the weekend.

“There is a couple of us like that, Joe probably feels the same way but whatever happens, happens,” he reflected.

“We’ll obviously do everything we can to win it. I’ve had a fantastic time here at the club, an unbelievable 10-11 seasons and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Obviously, we are hoping to win, but it has been an incredible experience either way.”

Saturday’s decider with Linfield is Curran’s second experience of the showpiece occasion. His first ended in disappointment back in 2018 with a 3-1 defeat to Coleraine at Windsor Park.

The Reds’ skipper believes that if there is any lesson to be learnt from that occasion, it is not to get carried away too much with the hype in the build-up and to focus on the 90 minutes itself.

“I don’t think we got carried away with anything the last time,” he believes.

“I suppose if there is anything I sort of learnt from it was not to get too carried away with the occasion. It’s really another game of football and that’s what you have to focus in on, not get carried away with suit fittings or interviews or the social media circus that comes along with it. Really, you just have to prepare yourself for that game, 90 minutes or 120 minutes, whatever it might be and make sure you are ready to go.”

Tickets for the first meeting between the sides in final for 90 years sold out in just two days after going on general sale and Curran is relishing the occasion given the buzz around the club in the build-up.

“I can’t wait for the game. There is a good buzz around the club and the supporters are really looking forward to it,” he acknowledged.

“Hopefully we can deliver for them on the day, that is really what it comes down to. I wasn’t aware of that myself [90 years since the last meeting] before I saw it on Twitter. It is hard to believe but I’m sure it will be a fantastic occasion with two heavily supported sides and we’re just hoping to come out the right side of it.”

Curran admits that he has been disappointed to not be fighting on two fronts in the aftermath of their semi-final win over Larne on March 30.

The Inver Reds exacted revenge just three days later and effectively ended any lingering hopes that Cliftonville had of making it a three-horse race in the split.

A draw and two defeats followed before the Solitude side defeated Glentoran and drew ended with campaign with a draw against Linfield at the weekend, but Curran is hopeful that they can take learnings from setbacks over recent weeks.

“It’s been disappointing to be honest because we parked the Irish Cup up after the semi-final,” he revealed.

“It hasn’t been the case of us celebrating or getting carried away with things after the semi-final. We focused in on the league games but unfortunately, they just haven’t gone as planned. It has been disappointing. We’re always trying to improve, so we’ve tried to take learnings from the games that we’ve lost and the goals that we’ve conceded. Hopefully it will make us better now moving forward.”

Jim Magilton is the fifth manager that Curran has worked under in his glittering career and believes that it has been incredible working under the former Ipswich Town captain.

“It has been incredible working with Jim,” he continued.

“He has done it his own way. I think he said when he came in that wasn’t trying to rip up the playbook. He was very much trying to build on the success that Paddy has had, but he has done it his own way and it has been brilliant.

“He has brought about a style of football that has been brilliant for the supporters to watch, I think they would agree with that. It has been successful too and we’ve had a really good year so far. Hopefully for him as well, we can finish on a high and bring the cup home.”