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Ciarán Kelly's four penalty saves | Sligo Rovers' 2010 FAI Cup final heroics

There have been some high-quality FAI Cup finals at the AVIVA Stadium over the last decade, with ...



Ciarán Kelly's four penalty sa...
Soccer

Ciarán Kelly's four penalty saves | Sligo Rovers' 2010 FAI Cup final heroics

There have been some high-quality FAI Cup finals at the AVIVA Stadium over the last decade, with Ciarán Kelly's penalty shoot-out heroics in 2010 one for the history books.

His four spot-kicks saves helped Sligo Rovers to a tense 2-0 win on penalties over Shamrock Rovers - Kelly saved efforts from Gary Twigg, Pat Flynn, Chris Turner and Paddy Kavanagh to deny the Hoops a seventh domestic league and cup double.

It was a third Cup win for Sligo, and it was so memorable that it beat out competition from Lionel Messi's appearance at the AVIVA Stadium in the opening round of our 'Greatest Sporting Moments' on that pitch.

We will have two Twitter polls every day and you can vote by visiting our profile and checking out the pinned tweet - with Kelly telling Ger and Eoin on OTB AM that he was delighted to be included.

"I woke up to a lot of tweets this morning and private messages - it's nice company to be in! It obviously shows the appreciation that Irish people have for the League of Ireland and I think in the next period of six to 12 months people will get behind the league, and they'll [hopefully] get the backing of the FAI."

Kelly, who currently still plays in Qatar, analysed his shoot-out performance, and said he grew in confidence as it went on.

"It was one penalty at a time, I was trying to speak to myself. I didn't look at our penalties, for the main reason that I didn't want to get emotionally involved in the shoot-out.

"I was just sipping a bottle of water and just focusing on a piece of ground while our penalties were going in or not going in! I didn't really focus on the score.

"Gary Twigg's penalty [first] was just to my right-hand side, and I just focused on his technique. The way his stance was I knew he was tired and was going to go back to his 'safe-kick' of opening his body up and just pushing it into the corner. I was fortunate enough to guess the right way."

"Chris Turner's penalty... he took a penalty in 2009 for Dundalk in Oriel Park, and I remember at the time I went to the right-hand side and he went down the middle.

"Some strange focus within me said 'This is the same penalty, same technique, he's going to strike it.' I kind of held my position as long as I could, and if I had to go I could still use my left leg to push off. But I stayed and held my ground, and fortunately enough it worked out right in the end.

14 November 2010; Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Ciaran Kelly celebrates after saving a penalty. FAI Ford Cup Final, Shamrock Rovers v Sligo Rovers, Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE

"The decision while he was on his run up to stay set was brave, but I was full of confidence from the first two penalties. I felt that because I had such a clear mindset I was able to make that decision - I just felt time was so slow.

"Even on the second penalty save, I don't think I celebrated. I felt I was in so much control at that point in time. The fourth penalty save, you can even see how confident I was.

"I went so early, I had made my mind up that Paddy Kavanagh was going to my left-hand side. I went so early that I think I was on the ground when it hit me.

"I know it's probably a little bit cheeky, but I was thinking [about] how we were going to celebrate! That's how confident I felt at that moment in time prior to the kick."

Aviva Ireland has been a proud sponsor of the Aviva Stadium for 10 years. Since 2010, over 7.2 million fans from around the world have attended matches at the Aviva Stadium. We’re encouraging fans to tell us your favourite moments from the iconic venue by following Aviva Ireland on Instagram and Twitter and sharing them using #SafeToDream

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Ciaran Kelly FAI Cup Fai Cup Final Off The Ball Otb Am Penalty Shoot-out Qatar Shamrock Rovers Sligo Rovers