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Peter Sweeney recalls playing for Millwall against Manchester United in the FA Cup final ahead of Dartford's second round trip to Bradford City

Ryan Giggs is chased by Peter Sweeney during the 2004 FA Cup Final Picture: FA
Ryan Giggs is chased by Peter Sweeney during the 2004 FA Cup Final Picture: FA

Peter Sweeney is dreaming of becoming an FA Cup giantkiller with Dartford more than 10 years after he played in the final of the famous competition.

The midfielder, 30, was part of the Millwall side, managed by Dennis Wise, which lined up against Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium in May 2004.

Sweeney was a young professional at the time while United’s team included Gary Neville, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

But the Lions held out until a minute before half-time, when Ronaldo struck. Two van Nistelrooy goals in the second half ensured the cup went back to Old Trafford but Millwall and Sweeney had done themselves proud.

He said: "We had a good team at Millwall back then. We deserved to be in that cup final and probably deserved to get promoted out of the Championship – but the FA Cup took our focus off the league."

As for cup final day itself, he added: "It all happened quite quickly. I was only 19 and my career had only just started the season before. Looking back, I didn’t take it all in as much as I should have done."

Sweeney spent 12 years playing in the Football League but Sunday's cup clash still has him excited.

He said: "Going to Bradford is a massive occasion and we’ll take a good away following. It’s going to take hard work (to get a result).

"No disrespect to us as a team, but they’re full-time, they’re a massive club and their quality will be better than ours. But this is the FA Cup, and on the day, who knows?"

Read the full interview and all the FA Cup build-up in the Dartford Messenger on Thursday.

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