Enniskillen scrum half Nick Finlay believes Enniskillen can rise to the occasion and produce a performance on Easter Monday that will see the Towns’ Cup come back to Fermanagh. Bangor will provide a formidable challenge but Nick reckons Enniskillen’s winning run in the cup has left the lower division team believing anything is possible.
“We have a lot of self-belief and the boys are up for the challenge,” he said. “Every time we have met a challenge we have met it head on and embraced it. The boys are a competitive group of lads that like to go out there and challenge themselves against the best and I think in big games we can get ourselves up for it. When we came into the changing rooms after the win over Clogher Valley there was great celebrations, yes, but we knew we were not going to the final to make up the numbers. We will be focussing on another game of rugby. It is eighty minutes and anything can happen. We will get stuck into them early on and the pressure is going to be on them. There is a lot of passion and pride and we will be going out there to do a job.”
On paper Bangor may appear to have the edge over Enniskillen and Nick is in no doubt about their quality, but he believes Enniskillen can match them tackle for tackle. “They don’t have too many weaknesses. They have a strong pack and a decent back line so hopefully we can nullify their attack and come 60 or 70 minutes if we are still in with a shout then it is anyone’s game,” he said. “We played them a couple of years ago at home and beat them, but they have done a lot of recruitment since them. Jamie Johnston and I were involved with the Ulster Juniors last year and Bangor had probably four or five players in there so that is the calibre of players they have, but we have quality players as well coming from a higher level down. We will just go out there and focus on the game of rugby and look at the next sixty seconds, and then the next sixty seconds, and see where that takes us. We are definitely underdogs but we were underdogs in the quarter finals against last year’s champions and underdogs against Clogher Valley.”
Their run to the cup final and their challenge for promotion this season has made the current campaign one of the most memorable of recent years, and Nick believes the squad that have reached Monday’s final is the best he has ever played with in his time with the club. “Without doubt this is the strongest Enniskillen side I have been involved with,” he admitted. “Norman has taken us on over the last two years and he has generated a fantastic atmosphere within the club and among the players. They really believe in themselves and that has really built during the last two seasons. Last year we had the cup run to the semi-final of the Junior Cup which was great for us and in the Towns Cup we made the quarter final, and this season we have had this cup run and a good season in the league, so it has been fantastic. Willie Gibson has come in this season and he has been a fantastic addition to the club as well. He has brought the skill levels up for the boys and added that little bit of intensity and desire. It takes a few years to build a team and Norman has done a fantastic job to get this group of guys together and build that belief. There is a lot of fun around the club and he has made it all very enjoyable. It’s a great mix with some young guys and some calm heads who will be able to ease the nerves on Monday.”