‘Hopefully everyone in
Inishowen will get behind us’
by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
The Reds of Carn Football Club face one of the
biggest games in their history against Dublin’s
Ballymun United in the quarter-final of the FAI
Junior Cup this Sunday aftternoon (2pm).
Hundreds of local football fans are expected to
converge on St. Patrick’s Park as Dermot Coyle’s men
aim for an historic seventh straight win in the
prestigious national tournament.
Ahead of the crunch clash, manager Coyle is keeping
his feet firmly on the ground.
“This Sunday will be a massive occasion for the club
and for the town of Carn. We have told the players
to enjoy the build-up but not to lose sight of the
fact that they have a job to do. If you switch off
for a split second at this level, you’ll be
punished,” he said.
“We have taken the entire cup run game by game and
in between rounds we have focused on the local
games. We only started preparing for Ballymun after
the game against Culdaff last weekend. I don’t want
to fill the players’ heads with too much
information,” Coyle added.
Reds boss Dermot said Carn will be aiming for a home
victory but he also sounded a note of caution.
“Everyone will be expecting us to go out all guns
blazing and attack at home but we need to be very
cautious because Ballymun have an experienced side
with a number of very potent threats up front. In
saying that we will not be sitting back. If we get a
chance we have to take it,” he said.
With a massive crowd expected at St. Patrick’s Park
on Sunday, Coyle is hoping that the players will be
roared on to victory once more.
“The support we have had has been unreal. Even on
the long trips to Dingle and Tramore we had great
backing. We had a huge crowd over for the CIE Ranch
game and by all accounts this weekend will be even
bigger. Hopefully everyone in Inishowen will get
behind us,” he added.
Carn have enjoyed a fabulous run so far and, after
defeating cup favourites Tramore United in the
previous round last month, will be confident of
reaching the semi-final stage of the prestigious
national competition.
After disposing of six teams on a memorable cup
journey so far, Carn hope to make it a perfect seven
against Ballymun this week. They will once more rely
on the superlative form of experienced keeper Gerard
Crossan with Brendan Tabb, Matthew Byrne, Gerard
Doherty and Gerard McEleney all likely to start in
Inishowen’s best defence.
The midfield has generally seen the accomplished duo
of Michael Byrne and Michael Toland in the centre
but Toland will miss Sunday’s big game through
injury.
In attack Oliver McConalogue and Cathal Doherty seem
the players most likely to get the nod.
If Cathal O’Kane is available he will certainly be
pushing for a starting spot while the likes of Ronan
Doherty, Christy McLaughlin, Donncha Gallagher and
some of the younger reserve players could also come
into the reckoning to be in the matchday panel.
Overall a great occasion for the club is on the
cards and Carn carries the best wishes from all the
footballing fraternity in the peninsula.
Road to Quarter-Finals
Glencar Celtic 4-1
Gweedore United 5-1
Ballybofey United 5-0
CIE Ranch 3-1
Dingle Bay Rovers 2-0
Tramore 0-0 (Carn won on penalties) |
