The semi-finals of this season’s Clearer Water Irish Cup are being staged this weekend – and both games are arguably David v Goliath clashes.
First up at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park tonight is a clash between cup holders Cliftonville and Ards.
It’s a NIFL Premiership v NIFL Championship encounter, and that’s also the case for the second semi-final between Dungannon Swifts and Bangor at Seaview tomorrow afternoon.
Tonight’s game - it kicks off at 7.45 - will see Cliftonville aiming to book a place in the decider for the second year running. Last year’s trophy success for the Reds came after a 45-year wait.
Jim Magilton’s side have already won the NIFL League Cup this season and the Cliftonville manager will no doubt be keen to bring more silverware to Solitude and guarantee European football for the club next season.
Their 2024-25 league form has been inconsistent, although a handful of last year’s Irish Cup winning team have since moved on and the team is in something of a transitional phase just now.
Ards will go into the game at the National Stadium as underdogs, however they are more than capable of causing an upset under shrewd manager John Bailie.
The Championship side, who last won the trophy in 1974, have defeated two Premiership teams, Ballymena United and Loughgall, on their way to the semi-finals and they have also won four games on the trot in the Championship.
"We recognise their strengths and we need to exploit whatever weaknesses are in their team. We're very determined to defend the Irish Cup,” Magilton told the BBC.
And Bailie told the Irish News that he will need to get “another 10 or 20 per cent” out of his players if they are to cause an upset.
Bangor, who won the Irish Cup in 1993 after famously defeating Ards in the decider after two replays, reached the last four of this season’s competition by knocking out Glentoran.
That 3-1 success against the Glens has put Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree on alert ahead of tomorrow’s game (5.30pm kick-off).
"They have a lot of good players, a lot of threat. We saw what they did in the last round so we're well aware of the threats and the strengths that they have,” said McAree.
Dungannon, who defeated Carrick Rangers 3-1 in the last eight, have had an excellent season to date, remaining in the top half of the Premiership table for much of the campaign.
They are the only club left in the competition who have never won it and McAree, who was part of the Dungannon team that lost to Linfield in the 2007 final, would love to be the first Swifts manager to secure the trophy.
“When you take up the mantle of head coach, or any coaching role, you want to be involved in an Irish Cup final. It would be a dream come true if we were involved in it on the first Saturday in May but we know we have a lot of hard work to do to get there,” he told the BBC.
Lee Feeney’s Seasiders have had an excellent season so far. They are top of the Championship table, eight points ahead of Harland and Wolff Welders and Limavady United with five games to go.
Feeney’s assistant, John Douglas, told the club website: “Every game we go into now we have the expectation to win and that’ll be the same on Saturday.
“We’ll be going in with a gameplan and we’ll be expecting within our dressing room to create an upset. We have big characters in our dressing room who can help with that. They can help the younger and less experienced players on the day to produce the quality that we know they have.”
Tickets for both games are still available at irishfa.com/tickets.
Both semi-finals in the Clearer Water Irish Cup are being livestreamed by the BBC – on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport NI website.
