IRISH LEAGUE: Limavady United trio miss Craig Cup semi-final tie

Limavady United are finally back in action this weekend after having no fixture for the last two weekends with four players away on Regions Cup duty.
Joe McCready is one of three players missing for Limavady United this weekend.Joe McCready is one of three players missing for Limavady United this weekend.
Joe McCready is one of three players missing for Limavady United this weekend.

They take on Moyola Park at Mill Meadow this Saturday in the semi-final of the Craig Memorial Cup.

Should they progress they will take on either Ardstraw FC or Desertmartin FC in the Boxing Day Final.

Park currently sit eighth in the Premier Intermediate League, three places below United but they have played two games more.

The two teams have already met at this venue in the league with the game ending in a dour 0-0 draw.

As you would expect Roesiders boss Paul Owens was excited to get his players back and actually have a game.

“I’m delighted to have the boys all back from Moldova and with no injuries which is a bonus,” he said.

“I’ve already expressed my disappointment at the fixtures but there now just six weeks till the New Years.

“We will have two big league games, a cup semi and hopefully a final plus round 2 and hopefully round 3 of intermediate cup.

“So it’s very much full steam ahead for us as they are all competitions that we are looking to win.”

With his team not having a competitive game for several weeks, Owens isn’t overly concerned with that though.

“Having no game for three weeks isn’t ideal preparation but you can look at it two ways for me.

“We can talk about being rusty or we can go into it champing at the bit to get onto the pitch again.

“Personally I can’t wait to get a game and I will be expecting the same from all of my players.

“We go into the game with a few key players missing through suspension and work commitments but it simply hands the jersey to someone else to go and put in a performance and get themselves back in the team,” he ended.

Ahead of the fixture United are without the suspended John Watt, while Joe McCready and Colin Murray also miss out because of work commitments.