Carrick Ladies face mighty ‘Quins

Carrick president Peter Stevenson said: “We’re under no illusion that on their day any Premiership-attached Junior One side should prove more than a match for a Senior Two outfit, and we know from the league tables that Harlequins are competing strongly in Junior One. This particular Carrick squad, however, certainly won’t be turning out just to make up the numbers. We’ve enjoyed a good run of results recently but it’s still been a mixed bag of a season for us and we relish the opportunity to prove to ourselves we have the potential to hack it at a higher level.

“While we still have a mathematical chance of making the promotion play-off for Senior One, on the balance of probability, we’ll fall just short. So what better alternative than testing ourselves against players with premiership experience or expectations?”

He added: “This is probably the most together and hard-working Carrick squad we’ve fielded for quite a few years and I believe they’ll enjoy and learn from Saturday’s experience, whatever the outcome.

“Over recent years we tend to have performed reasonably well in the McConnell Shield, quite often reaching the quarter-final stages. But we haven’t been in the semis for eight years.

“Few, if any, of the current squad will have been involved in that match. Maybe we can go one better. This particular Carrick squad certainly has the ability to do just that.”