Preview By Glenn Kelly
The day has arrived, the day local fans dreamed about as little boys and girls kicking the ball against their back walls trying to avoid the windows. Irish Cup final day. Mid-Antrim takes on north Belfast in a tussle for supremacy. Its game on for Crusaders and Ballymena United.
Stephen Baxter’s Crusaders side will start the game as favourites and rightly so given their superior showing in the league table. 5th plays 9th, top-six side against bottom-six side and all that. But football fans know all that doesn’t matter a jot when it comes to cup final day at Windsor Park. Form books can be thrown out of team buses, and statistics can be left to the statisticians at home. It’s duel time in a one-off bout and it’s winner takes all.
What makes this weekend’s tie even more tasty is that revenge is on the cards. These two sides met at the same venue, in the same tournament at the same stage exactly 12 months ago to the day with Crusaders breaking Sky Blue hearts with a Johnny McMurray extra -time winner. The showgrounds side will remember the tears shed that day and will be intent on reversing their fortunes and with reason to be confident.
Any side that comfortably disposed of league champions Larne in the way Ballymena United did at semi-final stage (2-0 win) should consider themselves in with a shout. Their league form has mostly be poor this year, with runs that’s could be considered abysmal, going without a win in 14 games pre-Easter. However, David Jeffrey has turned them into a cup side capable of beating anyone on their day. They will also be buoyed by a mini-revival at the end of the season with two wins and a draw from their final three games, bringing some much needed confidence into camp before the meeting at Windsor.
Crusaders have a squad who have seen it all before. Multiple cup winners are dispersed throughout the squad and they showed a calmness when seeing over Glentoran 1-0 in their quarter-final and Dungannon Swifts in their semi-final with an injury-time winner courtesy of club veteran Declan Caddell. However, the need to rest players and suffering suspensions means they have had to re-jig their squad comprehensively over the last three games and this has meant a drop in form, with two defeats and a draw in their last three games, they could well do with a win that would allow them to avoid the European play-off system.
With Crusaders missing captain BJ Burns the side need all hands on deck and support from the 12th man in the stands. There are no second chances on Sunday to make your club proud, so grab your flags, your hats and your shirts and wear them with pride. Wear them for your family and wear them for Kaylee. Make it a day to remember and bring the Seaview roar to Windsor.
The excitement is growing, player suits are pressed, the party-poppers are fully loaded and on stand-by. This is why we love final day.