Gabriel Sava is no stranger to trophies and definitely doesn't need an introduction to the EA Sports Cup. As the man says himself, he has won it 'maybe four or five times' - it's often enough that he has lost count. On Monday night, he kept out Aar
Gabriel Sava is no stranger to trophies and definitely doesn't need an introduction to the EA Sports Cup.
As the man says himself, he has won it 'maybe four or five times' - it's often enough that he has lost count. On Monday night, he kept out Aaron Greene's penalty in the shoot-out as Bray Wanderers advanced to the quarter-finals at Shamrock Rovers' expense.
Sava spent four trophy-laden years at Oriel Park with Dundalk but elected to switch to the Carlisle Grounds and drop down a division in order to guarantee more minutes on the pitch. It wasn't the first shoot-out that he's faced at the seaside venue; he was between the sticks as Monaghan United lost out on promotion on a crazy night in Co. Wicklow that saw Sava's ex-teammate Chris Shields score an own goal and net the decisive 12-yarder. 'Jaysus' is how Sava reacts when asked to recall it.
But Monday's victory provided a much fonder memory in a competition that has been a friend to him over the years.
"I'm used to playing in this Cup. I've won it a few times for Dundalk so I'm really happy and hopefully we're going to go to the final.
"I really enjoyed tonight though, the boys played very well. I'm enjoying my time at the club here and we're here to win things. We mean business.
"I got to the final with Monaghan about 12 years ago and I got to the final with Dundalk nearly every year since I was there. We lost against Cobh in the semi-final last year actually but really happy to get to the quarter-final and hopefully we go all the way."
Sava might have thought regular final appearances would be a thing of the past after his off-season switch but he has no regrets about his decision to swap Louth for the Garden County.
"I really enjoy it here. There was some bad advice I had before joining here; people saying 'ah why are you going to the First Division' but I just want to play football and I want to get back on top.
"I enjoyed it in Dundalk. I won so many trophies and the lads were very good and the manager was very good but now I'm very happy playing every week and we're hoping for a big win on Friday against Shels.
"We're doing good. I was a bit surprised a few weeks ago when we lost to Wexford but these things happen. We take every game as it comes but it's a big game on Friday and hopefully we get the three points."
