Cliftonville vs Linfield 04/05/24

Linfield’s manager insists his players will be fired up and ready to go this afternoon for a titanic showdown that has been 90 years in the making.

players who have managed to get their hands on the trophy, the last time coming in 2021 when they defeated Larne at Mourneview Park. “Like a derby game, you can go into it in good form and find yourself on the end of a beating, so the final will be won on the day,” added Healy. “Form and previous games against Cliftonville will certainly not matter. It will be all on the day. "The cup final is a great day and everyone is looking forward to it.” The Linfield boss said his team will be well prepared for the match and he will be relying on his more experienced players, who have been over the course before, to lead from the front. Healy will be coming up against one of his best friends in Northern Ireland football today. Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton was a senior member of the international squad when the Blues boss made his debut back in 2000 and Healy is full of admiration for his former team mate. "He came into the job a little bit later and the job Paddy (McLaughlin) had done before in pushing us really hard for a league title... they won the League Cup and they'd been successful,” said Healy. "I couldn't understand the question marks at the time around someone like Jim Magilton coming into the job. "Four, five or six years ago supporters of any Irish League club would have been really excited by that and I couldn't get it. Jim has gone in, hit the ground running and got his team in fine form. “I've worked with Jim, played with Jim and know the type of character he is - he was always going to demand the highest standards and he has certainly got that. Cliftonville are in the final again and everybody knows Cliftonville haven't won the Irish Cup in such a long time, so they're going to be desperate to go and put that right.”

The Clearer Water Irish Cup decider sees David Healy’s Linfield pit their wits against Cliftonville on the biggest day of the domestic football calendar at a sold-out National Football Stadium at Windsor Park. Having lost out on Gibson Cup glory for the second year running, the Blues’ appetite for success goes without saying, but the Blues boss believes this year’s showpiece could be one of the best in recent history. “Even when we played Portadown (in the League Cup final) we stressed the importance of the game because it’s a cup final,” said Healy, who has won the Irish Cup twice during his managerial career. “We want to be successful in cup finals and… this one hasn’t been played in 90 years. “We know the intense rivalry that the clubs have had over the years and we can call it as it is with sides from across the divide but the relationship that I have had with any Cliftonville manager, chairman or other people at the club has been a close working one and people may not see that. “There are respectful relationships which have been built up, including the return to Solitude, and in my time here we have been respectful to one another as two successful clubs.” He also said he hopes the game will not be mired in controversy. He pointed out: “There will be a big crowd and hopefully we will minimise any controversy around it. “There will be 15,000 at the game and we want it to be played in the right manner and the showpiece it should be. “My players will be finely tuned, fired up and ready to go. Hopefully we can show anyone watching the game that we can hold a good cup final in front of a big crowd and everyone is toeing the line on and off the pitch.” While Cliftonville have not won the Irish Cup since 1979, Linfield’s squad is littered with

Words Mark McIntosh

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