Crewe United chief Eamonn McCarthy has spoken both of his admiration for Crumlin Star and his determination to send them packing in the Intermediate Cup this weekend.
Like his opposite number Paul Trainor this Saturday, McCarthy once headed the most feared and revered team in the Amateur League, but his Newington outfit which dominated at the turn of the last decade were doing their thing well before Star’s rise to prominence, so there was little opportunity to develop personal rivalries.
That would come later, not long after he took over at Crewe Park, when the visitors left it late to sink McCarthy’s men 2-1 in the cup.
“Typical Crumlin Star,” laughed McCarthy, as he cast his mind back.
“You think you have them beaten and then they get it over the line. I remember the game like it was yesterday, we were the better side and the game looked dead with five to go, we were 1-0 up and they weren’t troubling us, we just never seen it coming.”
McCarthy acknowledges the Ardoyne men are now the “benchmark” in the amateur game, and hailed the rare togetherness that only community clubs seem to have.
He admits he envies that side of their game, but that’s where the niceties end as he plots their downfall in a few days’ time.
“That game was a long time ago now and we’ve improved as a squad since then,” added McCarthy, who rues the fact a handful of recent signings, including ex-Star men Breandan O’Neill and Ciaran Murphy, will be cup-tied.
“They scored two in five minutes, it was a sting in the tail and it’s something some managers have, it was the same with some of the Newington sides I had, the amount of last-minute winners we scored, and it’s not a coincidence.
“Star fight for each other, they’re never easy to beat, they’ve got that community spirit, I witnessed it before at Newington too, and you can’t buy that, you can’t coach that, it’s just there, they represent the community and that makes a big, big difference.
“Crewe will always struggle with that because they don’t represent the community, we sit a bit out in the sticks, but we’ve a good squad assembled there, it’s just a pity we don’t have our full battery out.
“The star have been the benchmark for the last few years so it will be very interesting to pit our wits against them and see how we get on.
“We signed a few players from them too so that will add a bit of spice to it but it’s probably feisty enough as it is.
“The Intermediate Cup isn’t something that used to be on the radar, but when you come this deep...
“We don’t want to lose to the Star and I’m sure they don’t want to lose to us, so it will be all guns blazing for the game. They’re the benchmark, they’ve been the best side in amateur football so it will be interesting to see how we compare.”
