WE'RE ON TOP OF THE WORLD

IT was a week when the Ballymena borough not only announced itself on the football stage but on the world stage as well.

Faced with the tricky situation of following on from the success of previous years' Northern Ireland Milk Cup tournaments, Ballymena not only met the challenge head on but passed it with flying colours.

All eyes were on how Ballymena Showgrounds would cope with one of the biggest footballing events of the year by hosting the finals in the three age sections.

The answer, according to the organisers, was a roaring success.

“It has been a fantastic week, from the opening parade right through to the finals night in Ballymena,” Milk Cup chairman Victor Leonard told Times Sport.

“The Council and Council officers in Ballymena have worked so hard to get the competition here and they deserve a tremendous amount of credit.

“Sandy Wilson and all the people at Broughshane also deserve a lot of thanks for what they have done during the week.

“Everyone who has stayed and played in Ballymena and Broughshane have remarked about how welcome they were made to feel and the people in the Ballymena borough, like all four of the Council areas we use, can feel very proud of their contribution.”

While Milk Cup officials have always insisted their first choice is to return the finals to their 'spiritual home' of Coleraine, it is unlikely that any magic wand-type solution will be found to the issues at the Ballycastle Road venue, meaning that the showpiece event is once again likely to be hosted by Ballymena next summer.

There is no doubt that Ballymena will give an even better account of itself next year, once the Warden Street stand is completed, taking the seated capacity to more than 4,000.

The rows of temporary seating around the perimeter track looked more like something you would see at an open-air concert than a major sporting event but Council officials did the best they could to ensure that there was adequate seating for everyone.

Detractors suggest that the attendance was down from previous finals nights in Coleraine but they were basing that assertion on the number of empty seats for the final match of the evening, the Premier final between surprise finalists Bolton Wanderers and Etoile Lusitana, from Senegal.

You can bet your bottom dollar that if Manchester United had been involved, the stand would have been packed out, as it had been when they played County Tyrone there during the week.

Nevertheless, one or two small issues should not detract from the levels of work that were put into the competitions from hard-working people in Ballymena and Broughshane.

Mayor of Ballymena, Councillor Maurice Mills summed it up when he said: “It has been a tremendous week for the borough of Ballymena.

“We have seen a lot of visitors from many different come into our borough and I'm sure they will have been impressed by the facilities we have and the welcome they received.

“It has not only put Ballymena on the footballing map but also on the world map because the Milk Cup is a truly global event,” added the Mayor.