ALL TO PLAY OFF FOR..

Adams is looking one last big effort but Stute’s Curry is confident that they’ll keep their winning run going

BALLYCLARE boss Clifford Adams has urged his players ‘don’t stop now’ as they face their most important week ‘in many years’. The Comrades have been out of the top flight of local football for 22 years but face Institute in a twolegged promotion playoff this week, with the winners paired with Carrick in the playoff decider. “It’s a massive week for the club and probably their biggest in many years,” stated Adams, who replaced Stephen Hughes at the helm at Dixon Park in March. “Everybody around the place is buzzing – the players, the staff, the town, me – it’s a very exciting time for the club. “My message to the players is ‘don’t stop now’ – they’ve had a great campaign and worked so hard and we’re near the finish line now. “We want to get through this Institute tie and have a proper go at Carrick Rangers. “People may have Stute down as favourites as they’ve been there before and have the experience but you can look at it in two ways as they stumbled at this hurdle last year.” And what of the significance of the opponents – Comrades’ East Antrim neighbours Carrick Rangers – for the winners of the playoffs first round. “Carrick are our big derby rivals so it would be a massive incentive,” replied Adams. “Should we get through the playoff games this week then the grounds will be hiving for a derby and that is somewhat of a unique opportunity for a Championship club. “We don’t want to get carried away with anything but that would certainly be a really tasty clash and I’m sure a lot of neutrals or those who aren’t regulars for the clubs would be really keen to attend as there’s so much at stake.” The Comrades fell to a 4-2 defeat at home to Kevin Deery’s side on Saturday but as Adams explained, this has little significance for the two games to come. “On Saturday we had seven changes from our usual eleven,” stated the Ballyclare boss. “Both sides had a raft of changes and it’s probably fair to say the teams were a shadow of what you’ll see on Tuesday and Friday evenings. “We wanted to use that as a platform for some of our players to get a run out – a few young lads and a couple of others who hadn’t played 90 minutes in about six months! “Avoiding injuries and suspensions was much more important than the result on Saturday and I’ve a full panel of players ready to participate in the playoffs. “The first few weeks I was in we were quite tight with numbers as our squad isn’t the biggest in the division but now we have competition for places and that should work in our benefit.” The East Antrim club have home advantage in the first leg tonight (Tuesday) before travelling to Drumahoe on Friday. “We’ve a bus arranged for 4.30pm on Friday to go up to Drumahoe and all our plans are in place,” added Adams. “Most of our players have either booked the day off or are getting out at midday, but it’ll be a huge night for us and the fact it’s on a Friday gives it a different feel as they’ve had their working week behind them. “Everything will be relaxed for us and we’ll be leaving nothing to chance, it’s important to get the players in the right frame of mind but I’ve no worries at all about that.” Meanwhile, Institute’s Stephen Curry is confident his side can maintain their unbeaten run against Ballyclare to triumph in the two’s playoff games this week. “There hasn’t been much between the teams in any of the games we’ve played so far but it’s important mentally that we’re unbeaten,” explained the 26-year-old. “We’ll be the more confident of the sides as they haven’t beaten us this season so we might have a bit of a psychological edge there. “We’ve only lost two league games since January and both of those were against Warrenpoint, so it shows we’re in good form and the team

have clicked. Sammy Morrow has come in and scored vital goals, we’ve tightened up significantly defensively and playing some really good football.” The Drumahoe side triumphed 4-2 on Saturday with Curry netting twice to make it three league wins in a row for Stute, who confirmed their second place finish. “Saturday’s win gave us a bit of a boost going into the playoff games,” added Curry. “Both sides had weakened teams playing with a number of changes but you can only beat what’s in front of you and it’s always great to win. To get two goals personally was really nice but I should have had three – I had one ruled out for offside which wasn’t. “My target from the start of the season was to get into double figures and the manager said to me the other day that my target now should be to catch Michael Mccrudden on 13 goals – so now I’m only one off. “As a team, we aimed to win the league this season but Warrenpoint have deserved the title. “Nobody could argue about that, so to be in the playoffs again represents a good year so far.” Institute travel to Ballyclare tonight (Tuesday) before hosting the Comrades at the Riverside Stadium on Friday – something which could work to their advantage. “I think for any two-legged game you’d prefer to have the second leg at home, in front of your own fans” stated Curry. “After coming so close last year against Ballinamallard all the boys who were involved in that are really driven to make sure we make it over the line this time. “We’ve been so keen all season to go one better than that, we want to be playing against the likes of Linfield and Crusaders so we’re excited about the games coming up.”