Rainey coach Richard aims to sink hometown club in Ravenhill final

Instead, the Ballymena man will be attempting to mastermind his hometown club’s downfall in Wednesday night’s Senior Cup

Boyd is part of the coaching team at Rainey Old Boys, Ballymena’s opponents in the showpiece Ravenhill final.

“It will certainly be an evening of mixed emotions for me, being a Ballymena man up against Ballymena,” Richard told Times Sport.

“John Andrews will probably be feeling something similar, having coached Rainey earlier in his career.

“It was John who actually took me to Rainey after I left Ballymena Academy.

“He was very much my mentor and he’s still someone I hold in the highest regard as does everyone at Rainey because it was John who was the catalyst for taking the club right through from Qualifying Two and he was the one who laid the foundation for the position the club finds itself in.”

While Rainey’s fortunes flourished, Richard’s rugby career went in a direction he could never have predicted when fate dealt him a cruel blow.

“I got a very bad leg break when I was 20 and I never played again.

“I started doing my coaching badges at that time and after a spell coaching Randalstown, I went to Rainey three years ago.

“People say there’s no substitute for playing and that’s probably true but I get a lot of pleasure out of coaching as well,” says Richard, a PE teacher at Coleraine Inst.

“We’re very much looking forward to the final - the club and the town are buzzing.

“It will be very tough against Ballymena because of the quality of players they have and the intensity of the level they play at but we’re having a good season ourselves and winning the Senior Cup would be a great bonus,” he added.