Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
12MATCH BEWARE VOGIE MEN
Doherty’s Rangers are confident of shocking holders Enniskillen
PETER DOHERTY admits Portavogie are quietly confident as they look to end Enniskillen Rangers’ reign as Junior Cup champions
The two clubs lock horns this Saturday in the quarter-final of the competition at New Harbour Road, with the Amateur League men already setting a new club record in reaching the last eight.
Doherty (circled) says their run has captured the imagination of everyone connected to the club, but insists going this far is not the limit of their ambition.
The seaside outfit are enjoying a fine campaign, placed perfectly in third position in
Division 2B and still involved in the Clarence Cup, with either East Belfast or Ballysillan
Swifts up next in the fourth round.
But the only thing on their minds this week is the Junior Cup, the biggest and most prestigious trophy at this level and something which Doherty would naturally love to get his hands on.
“We know very little about them other than they are winners and are going to be a very good side,” said Doherty, whose side knocked out Beann Mhadaghain, Donemana, Bangor Rangers and Rossowen en route to the quarter-finals.
“They’ve all been tough games in this competition.
“When you get this far but, you just get a wee taste of it and the whole place is talking about it, the club has never been this far in it so there’s a good buzz around it.
“Obviously they are going to be big favourites and we will give them the respect they deserve but we won’t fear them, and on our day we feel we can take anybody because we are playing well at the minute.
“The boys are playing well, we have no fear and we are tight at the back and we’ve got some pace up front so we’re really looking forward to it and believe we can get a result.”
On the league front, Portavogie underlined their determination to hunt down the top two in a 5-0 romp at Castlewellan on Saturday, with James Cully, Johnny Gardiner, Johnny Nixon, Ronan Keith and another James Cully all finding the net. Slowly but surely, 2B is narrowing into a three-horse race with the Gers hot on the heels of their Co Down neighbours and rivals Donaghadee and Bangor Rangers.
And with some 11 games still to come – three of those against the top two – Doherty has warned his players there can be no let-up.
“The Junior Cup takes your mind off the league so it’s a nice wee break from it, but it’s still about us trying to keep up with Bangor Rangers and Donaghadee for as long as we can,” said the Portavogie chief. “Bangor Rangers have came good again, they beat Donaghadee there and they’ve gone on a wee run and signed a few boys. “For us at the minute, it is just about matching them. We’re just concentrating on one game at a time. There is still a lot of games to play, but those two are not dropping many points at the minute.
“For us, we still have the cups, so we have one league game one week and then a cup game the next so it makes it very important we keep winning our league games to stay with them.”