CUP WEEKEND SEES UNDERDOGS OUT TO SPIKE THE BIG GUNS

It’s a really busy weekend ahead for North West Division 1 sides as Saturday sees the continuation of the second round of the Northern Bank Senior Cup whilst clubs are in action again the following day as the Club Turf Ulster Cup gets under way.
Bready have already progressed to the last eight of the Blue Riband competition courtesy of their earlier win against Bonds Glen while Ballyspallen’s withdrawal means a straight passage through for Strabane. Here’s a look then at Saturday’s five remaining ties.

EGLINTON V ARDMORE

The Division 2 side has started really well this season and are unlikely to be fazed by the trip to face Andy Christie’s men however the league is undoubtedly their main concern this year. While most eyes will be on Adrian Murphy who helped the Bleachgreen side book this tie with his century against Creevedonnell in the first round, Ardmore boast several other players who could cause plenty of trouble for the hosts. Teenagers Ciaran McDermott and Conor Brolly have been in good touch in the opening weeks while the likes of Sean Gormley, Paul Brolly, Gerard McAuley, Paul McDowell and George Brolly are others who will need to be kept quiet.
Eglinton look a different side this season, not least because of the quality of new professional Ryan Butterworth, and with Richard Wylie; Christopher Pierce, Karl O’Doherty, Richard Stewart and Johnny Gardiner all shaping up well, skipper Christie will be quietly confident of progressing.

SION MILLS V DONEMANA

A real throwback to the seventies this tie and a tough ask for the home team to even keep their illustrious visitors within touching distance. John Brown set about helping to re-build the Mill side in 2010 after several seasons in the doldrums and whilst he has the experience of Stephen Alexander and the Lee’s, Finlay and McGonagle at his side, the emphasis has been on developing the younger players at the club.
Donemana’s cup pedigree bears the closest scrutiny and new skipper Richard Kee must surely be eyeing another weekend out at the end of July. He will also be buoyed by the fact that professional Kamran Sajid has finally landed from Pakistan although with the McBrine trio, Dwayne McGarrigle, and the bang in-form Ricky Lee Dougherty and a host of top class quality to call on it is unlikely that the underdogs would have progressed in this tie either way.

COLERAINE V DRUMMOND

Tim Chopra’s side will again be without professional Mohammad Salman for their banana skin tie against an unexposed Drummond team. The Pakistani has stayed in the Caribbean on International duty meaning that David Cooke and Paul Douglas could once again split the wicket-keeping responsibilities. Charlie McCrum has been added to the squad in Salman’s absence and made his debut in the weekend defeat at Clontarf. The Bannsiders have won one and lost one of their opening league games, both of which have gone to the wire and they won’t want to cut things so fine against the Division 2 team now being steered by the other Cooke brother. Gordon’s unbeaten century against St Johnston is the main reason that they are here in the first place but this is no one-man band. Craig Hartin, Graeme Anderson, Steve Moore and Clive Rodgers are a quartet of players capable of taking a hand in this one but with the amount of quality in the home changing room it is very difficult to see past the form book.

BRIGADE V GLENDERMOTT

Local derbies don’t come any more local or any more highly-charged than this one and there is no shortage of history between the team separated by a tin fence and a field. They are no strangers in this competition either and the fact that Glendermott blew a golden chance to oust the eventual winners last time is just one of a host of sub plots. Johnny Thompson, now at Brigade, was a pivotal factor at the Rectory for a number of seasons whilst Stephen Smyth and Charlie Elder, both now at Glendermott, are part of the Beechgrove legacy as well. All three look sure to be heavily involved here but there are so many potential match-winners in both teams that anything could happen. Visiting skipper Gordon Montgomery, himself a much underrated cricketer has the likes of Bob Robinson, Craig Averill and new professional Roy Silva to call on while his opposite number Mark Simpson is also spoilt for choice. Chris Dougherty, David Barr, Ata-Ur-Rehman, Iftikhar Hussain and Trevor Britton along with the aforementioned Thompson will form the spine of the home side and they will start marginal favourites in front of what should be a big crowd.

FOX LODGE V KILLYCLOONEY

The final game of the round also has a few twists of its own most notably the fact that it is quite possible that brothers Dean and Graeme McCarter may come up against their boyhood club. Dean is into his second season at Ballymagorry while Graeme, who will again be leaving at the end of June to honour his County commitments in England, left Killyclooney in recent months. The Foxes have really improved over the past couple of seasons and could well be on the verge of something big at the club despite their very unfortunate All-Ireland reverse on Saturday. Brian Allen has assembled a compact and talented unit and with Darryl Brown back again their consistent approach could well reap rewards. Jason Milligan, Jonny Robinson, Andrew McGinnis, Andy Britton and Gareth Heywood have all been in good touch already and although possibly a genuine top order batsman short of title winning material they will be very dangerous in this competition.
The visitors are well aware that they would need many things to fall their way if they were to progress but in the likes of James Colhoun and Mark Gordon they have players who could make it interesting for a while. You would get little odds on a home win here.


CLUB TURF ULSTER CUP

Eight North West senior sides start the journey towards Ulster Cup glory on Sunday with some cracking ties down for decision in the first round. Pick of those could well be the clash of Civil Service North and Brigade at Stormont and although the visitors have been below par in the Inter-Regional competitions in recent seasons you would expect that a change of fortune isn’t far away. Donemana v North Down looks another mouth-watering contest and with the Comber side having travelled to Beechgrove last week they will be hoping to see some action this time around. Instonians at home to Bready is a match that could go either way, while Coleraine won’t be overawed by a trip to Waringstown but will be given a rigorous examination by the strong Belfast side. Strabane are back at Carrickfergus again in this competition and will travel as favourites while Limavady had hoped to have Adnan Akmal in the side that hosts Lisburn. Glendermott have home advantage over CIYMS and there is sure to be a cracking atmosphere at the Rectory for that one whilst Fox Lodge will be confident of progressing when they entertain Muckamore.