Clogher Valley coach, Stephen Bothwell, knows there is very little between his side and Ballyclare but believes if they can put in a performance at Kingspan Ravenhill on Saturday evening, the club will be celebrating its first ever All-Ireland Junior Cup triumph.

The Tyrone club has been this far before, in 2014, only to be beaten by Enniscorthy.

Seven of those involved that day are part of the 23 man squad for this year’s final.

And it is another bit of motivation for the squad to finally get over the line.

“It’s exciting. It’s nice to be in a position to get a crack in a final,” said Bothwell.

“We just have to go out and get a performance and do ourselves justice.

“And if we do that we will not be far away.”

Kyle Cobain, Richard Primrose, Eugene McKenna, David Sharkey, Michael Treanor, Paul Armstrong, Ryan Wilson and Rodney Bennett were part of the 2014 squad.

Youth coming through

Add them amongst the youth coming through and Bothwell says there is a real want to succeed on Saturday: “You have nearly half the team with that amount of experience and the other half is really young and there is a real push in the boys who have been there before to get over the line and the younger boys are eager and they are a great bunch of winners.

“There are quite a few of them who would have missed out, with Covid last year, with ERGS and the Schools’ Cup.

“They didn’t get a chance with it which would have been their year to have a crack at it, so it’s some kind of recompense for not getting that.

“There is a real want in both age groups, we just hope we can pull it together.”

This blend of young and old can be seen at training where Bothwell says some Thursday nights are worse than games on a Saturday.

At training, numbers have been in the 40s.

And most importantly they are playing with a smile on their face says Bothwell.

“Boys are wanting to play for the firsts and seconds and are happy doing so which is what you want - to be playing with a smile on their face.

“Every Thursday night at the end of training we will let the first and seconds go full strength and they will go ding dong at each other.

“The seconds love to have a crack at them and the firsts are trying to get things worked on that are hopefully going to work in a game situation and it is a great practice for them.

“There are some of the older boys in the squad that are playing for the seconds, they are big carriers and they keep the young boys honest in the tackle, they’ll not take a backwards step.

“It’s a great blend and the young boys want to get a crack at the older boys too. Some Thursday nights, they are worse than the game son the Saturday.”

Looking at Ballyclare, the sides have played each other twice this year in the Ulster Rugby Championship Division One and Bothwell sees them as a side similar to his.

But he is not getting bogged down on them: “We have played them twice and there has been nothing in it.

“They probably feel as if they haven’t played their best rugby against us. I would feel we wouldn’t have clicked altogether against them either.

“They are probably the team that is most like us in the league with a pretty good blend of old and young and they play a wide expansive game as well.”

If the weather holds it should lead to an exciting final with Bothwell adding: “I just feel if we perform and our pack is on the front foot we’ll be difficult to beat.

“It is all about us. If we get a performance I think we will not be far away.

“It’s trying not to worry too much about what they can bring and worry about what we can do and let them worry about us.

“When I say that I’m not taking anything for granted, it’s just the way I go.

“If we get a performance and play to the best of our ability, they’ll have to be at their best to beat us,” Bothwell concluded.