Allen takes over the reins for final

Having played already this season with Paul Roddy’s side coming out on top, the Waterside men will be aiming to avenge that result.

However there was a positive development at the weekend with the announcement that the new manager will be Peter Allen, who has worked with Newbuildings before.

Speaking before the announcement chairman John Dougherty said he wants the players to focus on the task ahead - the crunch fixture against Oxford.

And later he said the committee wanted to wish Peter and the new coaching staff every success for the rest of the season.

As for Roddy, he knows it’s going to be a tough encounter for his youthful team.

“We have a young team and we’re just hoping that they can go out and performance well and our objective is to hopefully win it,” stated the Oxford gaffer.

“It’s a big game for us and it’s important that the panel which is selected to go there represents the club properly. Even though it’s a young squad we would hope we can put in a good performance.”

That match earlier in the season saw former Derry City and Finn Harps man Adam Clarke grabbing the winner and a similar outcome would do very nicely for Roddy.

“It’s always a tight game between ourselves and Newbuildings,” added Roddy.

“We look to play a certain brand of football of keep the ball on the ground and play the game the right way, while Newbuildings are a bit more physical than us, so we are going to have to match them in that department.”