Ramsey confident Larne fairytale can continue
LARNE defender Chris Ramsey insists the underdogs tag will sit easily on the shoulders of his team-mates ahead of today’s Tennent’s Irish Cup semi-final showdown with Coleraine at the Warden Street Showgrounds.
The ambitious Championship club have defied the odds to reach the last-four of the country’s most prestigious knockout tournament and the former Ballymena United and Portadown man doesn’t want the fairytale to end just yet.
Larne’s renaissance has been well documented of late, with multi-millionaire Kenny Bruce pledging to lift his hometown club out of the doldrums.
The long-term aim is to gain promotion to the Danske Bank Premiership and that project is still a work in progress. But shortterm, the Cup run is a bonus.
Ramsey is one of a posse of new faces recruited over the festive period and, even though the team missed out on a top-six place in the Championship, everyone has bought into the club’s blueprint for the future.
“This Cup run will stand us in good stead,” said Ramsey. “A lot of the boys are still finding their feet.
“Quite a few have come out of the Premiership, so it takes a while to get used to life in the Championship. But we are here for a long-term project. It’s a building process and our focus is on promotion next season.
“I don’t think anyone would have predicted we would be in an Irish Cup semi-final, but we are here on merit and want to dream a little bit longer.
“It would be an enormous feat if we were to make the final. We have guys who can handle the occasion — Marty Donnelly was a double title winner with Cliftonville, Davy McDaid has won cups, Ciaran Caldwell has been about the Irish League for a while.”
Ramsey, however, has been around long enough to know that Coleraine will arrive as hot favourites to forge into their second successive Irish Cup final.
“They are flying,” added the defender. “It’s a massive task for us. We’ll go in as underdogs and that suits us fine.
“It was the same against Ballymena United in the quarter-final and look what happened.
“The bottom line is, we are lying seventh in the Championship. Coleraine are battling it out with Crusaders for the Premiership title, so on paper it’s a no-contest.
“It also suggests there is a massive gulf in class between the sides. They have Eoin Bradley and Jamie McGonigle up front — two players that could walk into any side — while Darren McCauley, in my opinion, is one of the best.
“They have quality all over the park and the players are hungry.
“However, it’s a one-off tie, so we’ll be giving it our best shot.”
Ramsey is adamant the huge Larne support can be a 12th man.
He added: “The fans have been amazing. The tickets have sold out, so we’ll have another big following. Hopefully, we can send them home happy.”