COLERAINE midfielder Neil McCafferty says the Bannsiders are determined to repeat the heroics of Glenavon in last year’s Irish Cup final and upset the odds against Linfield on Saturday.
The Lurgan Blues stunned Linfield in last year’s final, winning 2-0 at Windsor Park, and Coleraine will have to repeat the trick this weekend if they are to take the Irish Cup back to the north-west for the first time since 2003.
To do so, they will have to burst the bubble of a side that took 43 points from a possible 46 in their charge to the Danske Bank Premiership title, which was confirmed at Solitude last Saturday. But McCafferty insists he has no fear of the Blues ahead of Saturday’s Windsor Park showpiece.
“People forget we were the last team to beat Linfield,” the former Portadown star said, referring to their 1-0 win at Windsor Park in early January.
“In the last 20 games, we have been beaten by only two teams and they were Linfield and Crusaders, the two teams who finished first and second in the league. We finished third, so this is going to be a tight game between two teams who finished at the very top end of the league.”
McCafferty insists, however, that the most recent meeting between the two sides, when Linfield won 5-1 at the Showgrounds, will have no bearing on Saturday’s final.
“That defeat has absolutely no relevance to this game, it has zero to do with it,” he added.
“When Linfield came to the Showgrounds, they were like a stream train going for the title, whereas we were resting players or had players suspended. But even then, we were winning 1-0 after an hour. Before that, we had played Linfield three times this season and had lost none of them, so we have nothing to fear.”
One player who was suspended for the encounter was Eoin Bradley, a player who McCafferty says is of “massive importance” to the Bannsiders. Bradley played in last year’s final for Glenavon and is available again for Coleraine on Saturday.
“Linfield will start as favourites, but they were big favourites last year and look what happened,” said McCafferty.
McCafferty expects a big crowd to travel from the north-west to Belfast on Saturday and can’t wait for the opportunity to write himself into the history books at Coleraine.
“I’ve no nerves so far, I’m more looking forward to it than anything else,” he said.
“I’ve been involved in a few finals before, so I know how to handle them. There’s a few youngsters there who might be nervous, but I’ll not get the nerves until I’m in the changing room.
“It’s great to have a non-Belfast club in the final again and there’s a real buzz about it. Coleraine haven’t won the Irish Cup in 15 years and Jody Tolan’s still a hero in the town for scoring the winner, so that’s what we’re focusing on for Saturday.”
