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"You can only ever be the first do something once" - Villa set for Junior Cup decider

"You can only ever be the first do something once" - Villa set for Junior Cup decider
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Only five Waterford teams have ever won the FAI Junior Cup.

Bohemians, Hibernians, Waterford Crystal, Carrick United, and Evergreen have all lifted the national title before, and this afternoon a sixth team could be added to that list.

Villa FC go to Turners Cross where they meet Pike Rovers for the chance to stand tall on the national stage.

It's been a phenomenal year for Conor Coad's team, who lifted the Waterford Premier League for the first time in their history. They've gone the year with just one loss on the board in a campaign for the ages.

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Their opponents this afternoon have already been to the top of the mountain when they won the Junior title in 2011, and they will bring plenty of experience to the final having played in the decider on two other occasions.

Speaking to WLR Sport this week, Coad said that while they need to focus on themselves, you can't help but think about the quality that the Limerick team bring to the table.

"It's something that comes into it. You look at that Pike squad - they won it in 2011 - there's a lot of lads who would be their elder statesmen in the squad that would have been part of that squad. It's something that can count, definitely. They'll be looking to make their own bit of history to win it another time. Whereas, I think for our lads, a little bit of history comes into it too. You can only ever be the first do something once. We had that feeling last Wednesday when we were the first Villa team to win a Premier League. When you have a group like we've got, there's a lot of lads who've played their schoolboy, academy, and underage football with the club. It means a huge amount to them, so it would be phenomenal for the group of players and the club to get over the line because of how much it means."

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