Lisburn Seconds on trophy hunt in Plate final

The Seconds will face Fox Lodge in Wallace Park on Sunday in a last attempt for the club to secure silverware in their 175th season.

Seconds skipper David Graham has said it would be “really special” for the team to lift a trophy in the Club’s 175th Anniversary year.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s final, David Graham said: “We’re confident. We’ve had a run of good results, and if we can replicate that then we have every chance of winning a trophy.

“We beat Donemana in the Semi Final, who have won the competition in the previous two years and we should have a similar team to the team who beat them. It would be good for us to win a trophy and it would be really great to win it in our anniversary year,” he added.

Whilst Lisburn Seconds face something of a trip into the unknown, having never previously met Fox Lodge, Graham is hoping that home advantage will help the Lisburn side, with the final being held in Wallace Park.

“Hopefully that will help us,” he said. “I hope we can get a good crowd down to support us. Fox Lodge haven’t played there before, so they don’t know the wicket, whereas we play there every week.

“I don’t really know much about them as we haven’t played them before. We gon’t get many opportunities to play sides from the North West, so they are quite unknown, but it is just great for us to be in the final and we want to win the trophy, especially in the anniversary year.”

For the skipper himself, reaching the final is also something of a personal triumph. He said: “Personally, this is my first year as captain so it would be great to win something. We were knocked out in the semi final of the Junior Cup and this time we want to go one step further and win.”

The Seconds have reached the final the hard way, taking the scalps of top North West sides Strabane, Brigade and Donemana in the process.

Indeed, the Lisburn side were the only NCU side left in the competition after the end of the first round and are the first NCU team to reach the final since the first year when Bangor were runners-up.

Skipper David Graham will hope to have a strong squad from which to choose as he aims to lead his charges to glory on Sunday. The action starts at 1pm at the Park and it is hoped a good home support will come out for the game, as the opposition traditionally bring a big crowd with them.

The Seconds marched into the final of the Ulster Plate tournament for the first time earlier this month after ousting defending champions and tournament favourites Donemana Seconds.

Following a mid-season blip, the Seconds have found their form at just the right time and if they can continue to perform at this level they have an outstanding chance of bringing the Ulster Plate back to Wallace Park for the first time.

Saturday also sees the first Lisburn CC supporters day and the inaugural award of the Reggie Blair memorial trophy for supporter of the year. All Lisburn supporters are welcome to come along for the day and there will be refreshments provided after the game. In the evening, club President, and son of the late Reggie, Gary Blair, will be on hand to make the presentation of the trophy bearing his fathers name and there will follow the President’s quiz to which all are cordially invited.

Lisburn Firsts, meanwhile, have been somewhat overshadowed this weekend by the Seconds, and they will face Ballymena in a League encounter.

[email protected]