CRICKET enthusiasts are likely to be making their way to the prestigious Junior Cup final featuring Academy and Templepatrick on Saturday morning for an 11am start at Osborne Park, Belfast.
Based only a few miles apart, there is much rivalry between these Division 1 Section 3 sides, so skippers Gerry Sloan and Artie Campbell will have no need to get the players hyped up.
But what a contrast in personnel these teams present. The Academy side bristles with experience, with most of them having played at a higher level in either Sections 1 or 2. By contrast the Templepatrick lads are novices, but talented ones at that.
Artie Campbell's lads graduated from Section 4 five years ago, and after having stabilised at the higher grade they are now serious promotion contenders. Academy however have done it all, having experienced a yo-yo existence between Sections 2 and 3 a decade ago, as well as winning the Junior Cup.
The difference is likely to be reflected in the composition of the respective supporters. Academy's fan base is likely to be mainly wives and families, while Templepatrick should be cheered on by girlfriends, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts etc.
At the end of the day one lot will go home rejoicing, but let's hope that the players, inspired by the recent magnificent Twenty20 finals day in Hampshire, will provide some fireworks in the form of fours and sixes for everyone to savour.
The Junior Cup that is generously sponsored by Goldblatt McGuigan this season, has been dominated by 2nd XIs who have won it on no fewer that eighteen times in the past twenty-five years, and Academy are one of the exceptions.
They are the last independent club to have lifted the coveted silverware. That was in 2005 when Brian Boyd, who is a member of the current team, led Academy to their one and only historic win, when they defeated Woodvale II in a thriller at Moylena. That one was played on a two innings' basis, but the competition rules have changed, and Saturday's final will be confined to fifty overs a side as in league fixtures.
On the way to the final both teams have had to battle against the best, with Academy accounting for Waringstown II winners in 2002, while Templepatrick surprised much fancied North Down II, the 2006 winners.
So the scene is set for a battle royal at Osborne Park, one of Instonians Cricket Club's grounds, just off Belfast's Malone Road.
The teams are evenly matched, with both vying for promotion to Section 2, and honours ended even in the two league fixtures this season.
RELATED STORIESAcademy out to repeat 2005 triumphHistoric day for Templepatrick Cricket ClubThe full article contains 457 words and appears in Newtownabbey Times newspaper.
