Ballinamallard will be hoping to book their place in the Harry Cavan Youth Cup final when they take on Maiden City in the semi-final at Stangmore Park, Dungannon next Wednesday night.

The Mallards booked their spot in the last four following a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the quarter finals and Manager Ryan Beacom acknowledged that they were close to exiting the competition that day.

“It is amazing what three kicks of the ball can do for you. In the shoot-out we were one kick of the ball away from going out, but our keeper made the save; we then scored in sudden death and they missed, and we went through.

“We are in the semi-final and that’s all that matters,” he said.

Beacom admits that managing in this competition is not without its challenges, given the age group that it is played at.

“The way the age group falls is a bit of a nightmare because it is a 2004 competition but the U-18 League is a 2005 competition, so you have the O4s – the majority of whom are in with the Reserves – and the 05s, and they don’t train together or play together.

“Fortunately, I have a good group of coaches around the lads and good support at the club and we are trying to make that transition as easy as possible,” he said.

Among those coaches is somebody who knows all about winning the competition, with Mark Stafford having been part of a Ducks side that clinched the title in 2006.

“Mark Stafford is in there coaching and he has won the competition under Whitey Anderson, and he is somebody who has been there and gone on to have a great career in the Irish League, and the boys have been responding well to him,” said Beacom.

The Ducks boss would love to follow in those footsteps but he is looking no further than Maiden City.

“It would be great to try and emulate what has gone on in the past, however you simply play what’s in front of you.

“There are no bad teams left at this stage of the competition and I’m under no illusions that it is all going to come down to the day and who performs better and gets that wee bit of luck.”

The semi-final night is a big occasion under lights, but Beacom is hopeful that his players will settle into the game early and bring their own game to the table.

“You want the players to enjoy the game and not play the occasion. It is a game of football at the end of the day and while there will be a crowd at the game watching it, and it will be under lights, a lot of these lads will have had that in tournament football at the Super Cup or in other sports they play.

“You just hope that we can get settled into the game early and come to terms with the pace of their game and implement our game and then we will see where we are,” he added.