Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NOADE LIAM DUCK
Fit again midfielder a boost for Olympic boss Sloan
LIAM Sloan admits the return of Stephen Noade is a massive boost after the Ballynahinch Olympic captain declared himself fit for their Border Cup shootout against Rathfriland.
The influential midfielder is back in just the nick of time as Sloan’s men look to avenge their near-miss this time 12 months ago when they lost out cruelly to Crumlin Star.
For much of that game, Olympic were in the ascendancy and held a 57-minute lead right up until Joe Mcneill’s injury-time leveller paved the way for Kevin Trainor to emerge the hero when the game went to penalties.
It was harsh on Olympic, but of course that’s football, and a year on they find themselves in a position to set the record straight, with Sloan adamant his players can use that experience to inspire them to a first cup in Intermediate football.
“The motivation for us is how we felt in the changing room afterwards,” he said.
“To be fair, I think we performed pretty well last year and if we perform at that sort of level again, we have a good chance.
“Ryan Noade is definitely out, I don’t think he’ll be back this season, but Stephen came through the session today (Sunday) and we’ll see how he reacts but I’m confident he’ll be fit.
“We missed him the last few weeks driving us through, we’ve had two under-par performances without him there and even in training, he sets the standards and having him back there today, you could tell the difference.”
Sloan has done his homework on Rathfriland and is well aware of their obvious strengths on the ball and in attack.
But with his club stringing together 14 straight wins in all competitions in the Amateur League, he says they’ve earned the right to play their own game.
“Rathfriland are a good side, they are very good in the wide areas so I think you need to stop them there,” he said.
“And they try to overload the centre of midfield so we need to try and make sure we don’t get overloaded there and let them have too much possession.
“But realistically, we know what system we are going to play and we’re not going to change it because of Rathfriland.
“We know their danger men and what we need to do to try and stop it but I’m just more focused on what we have.
“We are punching well above our weight, up there with the likes of Star and the East and Rathfriland.
“I think Rathfriland go in as favourites, everyone knows that, on paper they are probably better, but on the day that means nothing with the spirit we have in the club.
“That has carried us through, nine wins out of nine (in the league), we can’t complain.”