Irish Premiership: Ballymena United v Linfield, Larne v Dungannon Swifts (tonight, 7.45pm)
A BALLYMENA United-Dungannon Swifts win double is priced at an understandably whopping 186-1 and those odds illustrate the task at hand for the Irish League strugglers tonight.
Second-from-bottom Dungannon have the more arduous assignment. Dean Shiels’ side have had a terrible run of form since their only league won win back on September 23 against Portadown. Since then the Swifts have played eight, lost seven, drawn the other and have scored just twice and conceded 21 times. They’ve scored just once - Gerardo Bruna got the goal in the 1-1 draw with Ballymena – in their last four.
Dungannon have won just once this season, Tiernan Lynch’s Larne have lost just once, dropped only seven points and are top of the table three points ahead of Glentoran.
However, after Ballymena’s surprise 1-0 win against Crusaders on Tuesday night, Larne boss Lynch is taking nothing for granted.
“I don’t buy into all that stuff about being favourites,” he said.
“This league is that strong at the minute that there are no gimmes, everybody is capable of taking points of everybody else and if there’s a lack of focus or concentration then these teams will punish you.”
Dungannon lost 2-0 to Paddy McLaughlin’s Cliftonville last week but they did hit the post twice and Lynch is concerned that the struggling Tyrone side’s luck will turn tonight.
“They are a good footballing side,” he said.
“We’re going in as favourites and everybody expects us to win but we have to blank all that out and concentrate on us and what we need to do and our gameplan. Hopefully we’ll be in a position to carry it out and get what we need.
“Dungannon get the same respect in training this week as Linfield will get for next Tuesday night. I have a very professional group of players and we know that if we are not at our best we’ll get punished.”
Lynch hopes to have a full squad available. Max Hutchinson did get a knock in Tuesday night’s 3-0 County Antrim Shield semi-final win against Dundela but no stitches were required and he could start tonight.
“We played Portadown last week and we beat them 5-0 but, with the effort and commitment that Portadown put in, we were quite fortunate that we were very clinical in the game,” said Lynch.
“The scoreline might have flattered us a little bit because it wasn’t our best performance but we got the goals that we needed. That’s the big thing in this league at the moment, it’s so tight, there’s so many good teams and Dungannon have Michael O’Connor who is a good player, Joe McCready, James Knowles, Brendy Barr in the middle of the park…
“They have a lot of good players, they try and play the right way and they work very hard so we’re taking nothing for granted, that’s for sure.”
Elsewhere, Ballymena United, fresh from Tuesday night’s 1-0 win at Seaview, host a Linfield side that beat Glentoran to progress to the County Antrim Shield final on Tuesday night.
