Ballymena United ‘relishing’ Linfield clash: Glenn Ferguson

GLENN Ferguson says his Ballymena United players are relishing the prospect of tackling Linfield in next month’s County Antrim Shield final.

The Sky Blues booked their spot with a 2-0 win over Donegal Celtic and Ferguson said: “In a semi-final it’s all about the result.

“It’s not every day you get to a final and I’m over the moon for the players and staff.

“We’ll see quite a bit of Linfield in the next month as we also play them in the league and the quarter-final of the Irn Bru Cup so there will be plenty of chances for players to stake their claim for places in the final - it will give everyone a bit of extra focus.

“There are a lot of young players in our squad who won’t have played in a cup final so this will be a great lift for them, for the club and the town.

“Donegal Celtic made it hard for us but once again we showed that we have players capable of getting forward from midfield and scoring goals,” added Ferguson.

His opposite number Pat McAllister was disappointed not to claim the west Belfast side’s first ever place in a senior final.

“We matched Ballymena for an hour but our heads went down a wee bit when we went a goal behind.

“We played some really good stuff in the first hour but we lacked a bit of composure when it came to finishing,” added McAllister.