Showgrounds set to host Junior Shield final

Plans to play the all-Saturday Morning League showdown at Ballymena Showgrounds on Wednesday, May 2, are at an advanced stage.

Times Sport understands that County Antrim Football Association chiefs have no difficulties with the final – one of the showpiece events in the province’s junior football calendar – being played in Ballymena, while it is also understood that Ballymena Borough Council has no objections to hosting the final.

Ballymena Saturday Morning League chairman Davy King said the decision still had to be ratified at a meeting of the County Antrim FA on April 2 but that it looks increasingly likely that the game will be played at the Warden Street venue.

Homers booked their place in the final with a 3-1 win over Basement last Tuesday night, while 24 hours later, Carniny cantered into the decider with a 4-0 thrashing of Valley Rangers.

“The idea of playing a final between two Ballymena teams at the Showgrounds is something we had been keeping an eye on in the latter stages of competition – especially after they were kept apart in the semi-final,” Davy told Times Sport.

“It’s the final that everybody in football circles in Ballymena wanted to see and now, hopefully, it looks as though it will be played at the venue everybody wanted.

“It would undoubtedly attract a bumper crowd if it was played at the Showgrounds – certainly much more so than if two Ballymena teams were dragged away to Belfast or somewhere else to play the final.

“It’s a tremendous accolade for the Saturday Morning League to have two teams in the final of such a prestigious competition and the Showgrounds would be a fitting venue for the occasion.

“It would also be a great opportunity to showcase the excellent facilities at the Showgrounds to people outside of the Ballymena area.

“At the start of the competition you couldn’t, not even in your wildest dreams, have predicted that two Ballymena Saturday Morning League teams would come though so many rounds to meet each other in the final – it will be one of the biggest footballing occasions in Ballymena in living memory,” added Davy.

Unsurprisingly, both team are very much in favour of keeping an all-Ballymena final in the town.

Harryville Homers boss Jason Jordan told Times Sport: “When people were talking about the possibility of an all-Ballymena final in Ballymena, I didn’t really pay too much attention.

“I was more focused on simply getting into the final and letting other people make those sorts of decisions if and when they were required.

“But now we’re both in the final, I think playing it at the Showgrounds would be a fitting tribute not only to the two teams but also to the town of Ballymena and to the officials of the Saturday Morning League for the hard work they have put into the league over the years,” added Jason.

That view was shared by his Carniny counterpart Robert Young who said: “The Showgrounds would seem the obvious place to play it.

“Failing that, I was just saying to a couple of the Homers guys last week, we could throw a couple of jumpers down for goalposts and play it in Harryville Park!” quipped ‘Dobbie’.

For more coverage and reaction from the semi-finals, see pages 50-51.