Glebe and Ballymoney hoping for Irish Cup runs

Glebe have a tough assignment away to Dundela, who play a league above them while Ballymoney United are at home to minnows Ballynahinch United. Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 1.30pm.

Glebe boss Peter Cairns told the Times that although the league is their priority, they will still be putting all their efforts in to getting a result at the ‘Hen Run’ in east Belfast this weekend.

He subscribes to the ‘magic of the cup’ philosophy and would love to account for Dundela and give his boys a tilt at an Irish League side in January.

Said Peter: “Dundela are flying high and are third in Championship One. We came down last year and they were promoted and have settled in well but I feel that if we can defend well on Saturday we can get a result because we have been scoring well at the other end.

“If we set up well and defend the way we know we can on a tight wee pitch I know with the deliveries into the middle from Tommy Elder and Ian Parkhill at the other end that we can cause them problems, especially if Dundela under-estimate us.

“Our priority is the league but we would love a run in the Irish Cup especially with the big names coming in in the next round. We would have hoped for a kinder draw at this stage than away to Dundela but there is a big incentive in getting a win up there.”

Ballymoney United’s stand-in manager John Fall is also dreaming of a good cup run this year.

United enjoyed their stint in the competition last year when they beat Bangor before taking on Newry City and John would like more of the same this time round.

Like the Glebe his side have hit the goal trail in recent weeks and with people like Gerard Gillan starting to find the net with regularity, Ballymoney United fans are hopeful of seeing a cup success this Saturday.

John Fall told the Times: “Ballynahinch play in Amateur League 1B but we will not be under-estimating them. They have been in the Irish Cup before and this is a tough task for us as it is a potential banana-skin for us.

“But after two good wins in recent weeks we have a wee bit of belief about us again and we would like to get a repeat of last year and advance in the Irish Cup.”

* Fans are invited to turn up at at the Manor Hotel in Ballymoney for travel to the Glebe match in Belfast. The bus leaves at 11am.