Ballymena United v Crusaders

THE BOSS

As Northern Ireland football’s most experienced managers, Stephen Baxter and David Jeffrey must have thought they’d seen it all ahead of last year’s Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup Final.

But after 120 gruelling minutes at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, the former Linfield team-mates were equally shellshocked. For Baxter, there was a mixture of relief and elation after Johnny McMurray’s spectacular last gasp strike in extra time secured Crusaders the famous trophy for a fifth time. Just yards away, his opposite number Jeffrey dropped to his knees after Ballymena United snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. But while everyone around them either celebrated or experienced devastation, Baxter and Jeffrey shared an embrace, a moment in time captured between two great competitors who share an insatiable desire to win. Fast forward 12 months and the duo will do it all again in a repeat of last season’s final. "David and I go back to our playing days at Windsor Park,” said Baxter. ”A lifelong friend off the pitch but like last year it all goes out the window for the duration of this football match. He'll be trying to beat me as much as I'll be trying to beat him. "We always look forward to those challenges and he'll be the first to congratulate me, as I will him, whatever way it goes.” He said managing or playing in a major cup final provides special moments in a football life and career. “Some people never get to go to one final or play in the final but we are doing it quite a bit as we have a great cup record over the last 10 years,” the Crues boss pointed out. "Cup finals are cup finals and you've got to play them as the game unfolds. It could be as tight as

last year or it could be a much more open game. Often at times a goal in the first 10 minutes of a football match can open a game up and you get some free-flowing football. "Last year was last year and a lot of football has been played since that. You just don't know what you'll get on the day but we will prepare for a game in and around what we want to do, and Ballymena will do likewise. "We don't put a lot of emphasis on what happened before. We just have to look after what happens in the future.” Baxter knows last year’s heartbreak will not be far from Ballymena minds this afternoon, but he believes they’ve already shown they are more than capable of causing an upset. He insisted: "I think Ballymena deserve huge credit, as do we, for making another final. You've got to work your way through a competition to get yourself to this showpiece game. That's not an easy feat with all the teams in there. "Obviously Ballymena overcoming Larne, who are the team of the season, in the semi-final was huge and they were deserving and comfortable winners on the night. "They'll not be walking into this final with any inferiority complex as they'll be saying if they can beat Larne then they can beat anybody. "You'll look at the league table and say there's a gap in the standings but in any one off game league standings count for nothing and you've got to be prepared and ready.” Words Mark McIntosh, The Sun

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