Irish Cup - Final | Ballymena V Glentoran

Words: Nigel Tilson

M A R C U S K A N E

T H E S K I P P

Marcus Kane believes Glentoran deserve their place in the final of this season’s Sadler’s Peaky Blinder Irish Cup.

He revealed: “I believe we are as ready as we can be in such a short period of time. The lads have put the work in and it certainly paid off against Cliftonville. The job’s only half done, however.” The Glentoran skipper also said that the Glentoran players and coaching staff will not be taking Ballymena lightly.

The Glens captain and his team-mates have had to overcome several difficult hurdles on their way to the decider. “It’s amazing to be able to say you are going to be involved in this showpiece match. We have worked hard all season and I believe we deserve to be there,” he said.

“Ballymena are a strong side with loads of Irish Cup Final experience in their ranks. They are strong defensively and have good counter attacking players like Andy McGrory, Cathair Friel, Adam Lecky and Jude Winchester to name a few,” he pointed out. Glentoran have won the Irish Cup 22 times in their history – and Kane would love to be the Glens captain who lifts the trophy for a 23rd time.

Those hurdles included a remarkable tussle against Cliftonville in the semi-finals earlier this week. Locked at 1-1 after 120 minutes-plus of action, the tie was eventually settled on a penalty shoot- out, which Glentoran won 7-6. Looking back on that match, he said: “The game itself was pretty open. We had the better chances but failed to end it in normal time and to be fair to Cliftonville they had a solid game as well.

He says it would mean a lot to him and before he goes out on the pitch tonight he will be urging his team-mates to show their mettle. “I will be asking them how much it means to them to be here and to go out and show me,” he said.

“I did think that penalties were going to favour Cliftonville, but fortunately we have Elliott Morris who never knows when he’s beaten. Elliott was definitely our hero on Monday night.” Both Ballymena United and Glentoran have had to endure a quick turnaround to prepare for this season’s Irish Cup final. However, Kane and his team-mates are taking it all in their stride.

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