Eamonn Hughes was sporting in his assessment of Saturday’s title ding-dong between Willowbank and Finaghy, insisting “may the best team win.”
It’s an epic finale to 2A at the weekend, a winner-takes-all shoot-out with second travelling to first on the final league game of the campaign.
Finaghy need only avoid defeat to be crowned champions, but that’s easier said than done with the Bank, fresh from a third Junior Shield triumph in four seasons, and with two back-to-back titles also in the bag, breathing down their necks.
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“It’s funny because for us, it’s similar to five years ago, back then (in the Belfast & District) we were playing St James’ Swifts in a very similar situation, it was roles reversed, I think St James’ had to win, whereas on Saturday, Finaghy can draw as well,” explained Hughes. And the result that day?
“We beat them 5-2 and won the league, that was tasty,” he added.
“So this will be another absolutely huge game. The guy (Finaghy boss) Chris Stewart, (pictured top) he seems a very, very knowledgeable guy in terms of his football, he has them buying into his ideas and Finaghy seem a decent bunch of lads as well so like anything, it’s a case of who wants it more and may the best team win.
“We’ve made it a little bit hard for ourselves, but listen, if someone had said you’ll go into the last game knowing if you win the game, you get promoted and win the league, we would take it.
“Like anything, you have to give Finaghy a bit of credit. Whenever we actually played them in September, I said to our boys that I thought they would be the team to go the whole hog so you have to give them a bit of credit as well and fair play to them.”
Willowbank “made it hard for themselves” in terms of dropping points at places they normally would expect to win, like Lower Shankill.
But in receiving a drubbing a few weeks back at Portavogie, the Willowbank skipper reckons the result, in shaking them out of any complacency that might have crept in, could end up a blessing in disguise.
“We had a couple of games where we drew away to Lower Shankill, and then it was men against boys down at Portavogie the other week,” explained Hughes, whose side bring the curtain down on their season with a Cochrane Corry Cup final against Bangor Young Men on May 5.
“They beat us 5-1 on a Tuesday night and they literally played us off the park and it was a bit of a reality check to be honest.
“Over the last three or four years, we have probably won 80 per cent or 90 per cent of our games and sometimes you need those results to keep you in check and to not get above your station.”
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