SUFFOLK READY TO MAKE CUP HISTORY

JOE TRAYNOR insists Suffolk are primed and ready ahead of the biggest week in the club’s history. The west Belfast outfit contend the Junior Shield decider against Woodvale at Seaview tomorrow night (7pm) – incidentally the first final the club has ever been involved in – before they welcome Finaghy to Suffolk Park this Saturday in a crunch derby which will have a massive bearing on their chances of landing the 2A title. Should they win the game, they would go three points clear of current leaders Rosemount, who will then need to take maximum points in their final game of the season seven days later when they host Woodvale at Islandview Road. And beyond that, Traynor’s men have a Cochrane Corry Cup final to look forward to against Castlewellan Town on May 4, which may or may not offer them the chance of a treble. It’s all up in the air at this stage, of course, but Traynor knows all his men can do is keep to their side of the bargain, and that means earning the two wins this week which would move them top of the table while delivering a first major piece of silverware. “We have three big games coming up here and we just have to go for it,” said the Suffolk chief. “First up is the cup final and we have to go for it, the boys are all well up for it and we’re confident we can get the win.” Woodvale drew first blood in the build-up to the final, defeating Suffolk 1-0 last Tuesday night to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Traynor’s side. But inspired by Chrissy Ferguson’s hat-trick heroics on Saturday, they hit back with a 3-2 win over Tullycarnet to ensure a grandstand finish to the season. And for Traynor, the win spoke volumes about the character of his team coming hot on the heels of their setback just a few days earlier. “We had to go out yesterday with the right attitude and look for the win,” said Traynor. “Going into the game, we knew that all we could do is get six points from our last two games, to get the points and put them on the board and see where it takes us. “We have got three now so we are halfway there and we’ll go into the game on Saturday and hopefully win the other three and then we’ll have to sit back for a week to see what happens. “But I couldn’t ask for any more from the boys, obviously after the defeat on Tuesday night against Woodvale, it can either go one way or another, the heads can go or you can rise above it and I have to take my hat off to every one of them, they rose above it and we went out, 2-0 up in the first 20 minutes. “But the thing about Tullycarnet is you can never write them off and they came back to 2-2 but we still showed character, and lucky enough we got a penalty to win 3-2 and we held on for the last 15 minutes. “We are coming to the end of the season here and they have showed me so much, we are through to two cup finals and sitting joint top of the league so like I say, the boys have gave me everything this season.”