Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE’VE SCOTT TO GIVE IT A REAL GO
Taughmonagh boss going to Killyleagh to make statement
IAN SCOTT says Taughmonagh will go for broke this weekend as they look to claim the biggest scalp yet of their maiden Amateur League campaign against Killyleagh.
After dumping 18th Newtownabbey out of the Clarence Cup the previous weekend, the south Belfast outfit narrowly missed out on adding their Monkstown neighbours Nortel to their list of conquests after going down 1-0 at the Factory in the Cochrane Corry on Saturday.
It’s cup action for a third week in a row this weekend, as Scott takes his players to the home of one of the Amateur League’s most successful sides.
Name-checking some of Killyleagh’s main men, Scott has clearly done his homework on Paul Sharvin’s side, back in the top flight this season after four seasons exiled in 1A.
The Showgrounds men will be fancied to make the last four, by dint of their Premier Division status – six tiers above Taughmonagh no less – and because of their home advantage.
And Scott agrees they should be favourites, but while respecting their reputation and pedigree, he takes his team down there with only one thing in mind, another upset.
“It’s Killyleagh and what do you do, you have to go down and give it a go,” said the Taughmonagh chief.
“They’re massive favourites,
Jack Sharvin is scoring the goals for them, Adam Neale is back as well, but we’ll just go down there and give it a go.
“We’re taking a good crowd down with us so we’re sort of treating it as a final, we’ve got this far so we’ll go down and give it a go.
“I said to the boys, Saturday there we played Nortel and next week we play Killyleagh, they are two of the biggest names in the Amateur League.
“Last year, we were playing Lisburn League teams but this is what we’ve wanted for the last six or seven years.
“So you have got to go and enjoy it, but I still want promotion and I still think these cup runs will kill us in the end.
“It’s all about promotion but we’ll just enjoy next week.
“We’re going to do it right, we’re going out early, we’re doing breakfast, getting the bus.
“We’re not expecting anything, I think they will have too much for us, but it’s a free one for us, no one expects anything, but my boys can cause teams trouble and you always have a chance.
“My boys going forward can cause anyone problems, for the first half an hour on Saturday we caused Nortel real problems, we have pace going forward.
“It is just having the know-how to do it and see the game out.”
Taughmonagh claimed their biggest win of the season last week, sending 1B challengers 18th Newtownabbey crashing out of the Clarence.
It was a big moment for the club, but one Scott reckons could have backfired on them.
“After beating the 18th last week, I think it made Nortel stand up and take notice,” he said.
“But the boys have outdone what I they would have done, they have been absolutely excellent, the numbers at training have been super and I’m proud of them. I just really hope now that we can kick on for promotion.”
Beyond Saturday, Scott and co can focus on the league again.
Belfast Celtic remain odds on favourites for the title, despite losing their first league game of the campaign at St Mary’s at the weekend.
Taughmonagh have some catching up to do, having played far less games than Newhill and St Mary’s, their main promotion rivals. It means they face a fixture backlog which will cause some problems, but with the lion’s share of their remaining fixtures coming at home – seven from their last 10 – Scott knows they still have a chance.
“I think if we can get another seven or eight wins, I think we will do it, but it’s getting them because we have a small squad here,” he said.
“But if we stay fit, avoid injuries, avoid suspensions, we’ll be alright and we’ll have a good go at it, but what is working in our favour is the home games and I’ll back us against anyone at home. That’s a massive adthought vantage for us.” On Saturday’s loss to Nortel,
Scott admits Taughmonagh didn’t carve out enough chances to win the game, adding: “We’re very disappointed, it was one of the ones we targeted, the Cochrane Corry. They scored right on the stroke of half-time and that was it, they defended very well the second half.
“We didn’t do enough, we missed a penalty after about 60 minutes, but apart from that we didn’t do much, and the pitch didn’t help.”