Silverware trumps Europe for Derry City's Duffy

Derry City captain Michael Duffy says winning a trophy takes priority over qualification for Europe as he scores both goals in the Candystripes' FAI Cup semi-final win over Galway United. European qualification was the furthest thing from Derry City captain Michael Duffy's mind before Saturday's 2-0 win over Galway United in the FAI Cup semi-final. Behemians' 2-0 defeat by Waterford in Friday's first semi-final means there will not be an added European place available through the league, but this was an irrelevance for Mark Connolly's men. Instead, reaching the cup final was all that mattered and should they defeat Waterford in the final on 8 November and reach Europe by this route, it will be a nice bonus but silverware is the primary objective.

It has been a turbulent campaign for City with interim boss Connolly stepping in after the dismissal of Tiernan Lynch in August, but they are now just 90 minutes away from the club's seventh cup win and first since 2022. "You don't look at a cup like 'let's win the cup for Europe'," Duffy told BBC Sport NI. "It's a cup, you want to win trophies and be successful here. "It was all about getting to the final to win a cup, so it didn't add any pressure. "We said that before, forget about Europe and