Monday replay for Coagh Utd

A Coagh United spokesperson told the Mail Sport that they were extremely disappointed with the decision to play the game on Monday afternoon.

Coagh committee members had been working around the clock to try and move the game to Saturday but the IFA denied their request. United were scheduled to face Cliftonville Olympic in the Intermediate Cup on Saturday and were keen to rearrange the fixture.

“We had hoped to give up home advantage to Cliftonville Olympic and play them at some stage this week. This would have freed up Saturday for the replay. Newbuildings were made aware of the situation and they were in full support of our request. Cliftonville were also happy to play on Thursday evening.”

“We are extremely disappointed with the decision made by the IFA. Two matches in three days is a lot to ask from our players. Our pitch would simply not have been able to cope with two games in such a short space of time.”

A Coagh spokesperson stated that they were weighing up their options with regards to the Intermediate Cup.

“We have already been faced with a number of problems with regards to this replay. It is highly unlikely we will have a full strength squad and ultimately a large majority of our panel will be taking time off work to play next Monday.”

It promises to be an intriguing tie as both sides will be desperate for victory and a trip to Windsor Park to face Linfield on Saturday 3rd March.

Nothing could separate the two sides at the weekend as both sides cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw. The Londonderry outfit grabbed the lead in the early stages of the first half through Paul McIvor. However, Coagh responded superbly as Steven Park saw his deflected effort beat the Newbuildings netminder.

Neither side could grab that elusive second goal as the game finished 1-1.

Kick off on Monday afternoon at Hagan Park is 2pm.