Lisburn up for the Cup

Lisburn will be aiming to bounce back after their Challenge Cup defeat against North Down last weekend, a defeat which Simpson said left him ‘very disappointed’.

“We were obviously disappointed to go out of the cup, but the nature of our exit was particularly disappointing,” the Captain commented.

“Especially given we had such a fantastic win the week before, a really emphatic win, from the peak of a win to the trough of defeat, but that is the nature of sport.”

Simpson knows his side will need to lift their game if they hope to get further than the first round of the Ulster Cup tomorrow.

“There is no doubt we have some very talented individuals, it is a case of everyone pulling together and chipping in, if we do that obviously we are in with a shout.

“Donemana are a very, very good side, particularly in the cup. They are annual cup specialists in the North West and always win at least one cup.”

The Captain admitted he doesn’t want a repeat of last season’s match, when Craig Ervine scored a double century against Donemana but Lisburn still lost the game off the last ball.

“We don’t want a repeat of last season,” Simpson stated. “Craig bowled that last ball, even though he got a double century, I still blame him!

“Craig is obviously gone and we miss that star quality,” he added, “but I still think we are in with a big shout on Saturday.

“I would say we are definitely underdogs, but we do have the potential for upsetting the odds.

“Darryl has been getting into form now with the bat and with the ball myself and Darryl have been working well and we have other talented bowlers.

“We always knew we would miss Craig Ervine, when you lose someone that good it was always going to leave some form of gap in the team.

“James McGowan, as well, he has a job in England so we will only have him for maybe five or six games, and Adam Berry has a broken ankle.

“We also have guys at university or who have exam commitments, so we know it will be difficult, but we have got to get on with it.

“We haven’t got the spending power or the resources of teams like Civil Service, Waringstown or Instonians, we haven’t got the financial resources to compete on that level, so we have to fight and scrap and see where it takes us.”

Ahead of tomorrow’s match, Simpson added: “We’re really looking forward to it.

“I love playing against teams that we don’t see every week.

“Donemana always bring a pretty boisterous crowd with them, it’s usually a good day.

“As we’re playing in the Cup, we have nothing to lose. I’m hoping this will put more pressure on them and hopefully makes us play with a bit of freedom and we can pick up an unexpected win.”