Donald not expecting easy ride against Mac

The Mac dumped Championship One Carrick Rangers out on penalties to reach the fourth round, and it was no fluke. They matched Michael Hughes’ men all over the park, showed tireless endeavour, and they got their reward.

Despite never having seen them play, Island boss Stephen Donald knows his men will have to be on top of their game if they are to get past the Belfast outfit on the artificial surface at Grosvenor Recreation Centre.

Both teams have lost key players to Danske Bank Premiership clubs in the transfer window: Island frontman Michael Moore has made the switch to Distillery, while Mac’s impressive midfielder Kevin Hughes opted to join Donegal Celtic. Two of the Amateur League’s star men may have exited the stage, but that hasn’t dampened expectations of an honest and gritty show of cup theatre on Saturday.

Putting together a consistent run of results to claw 13th-place Island away from the Premier Division’s relegation trapdoor may be his main priority, but every match is important and a win at Mac could act as the springboard to propel Donald and his charges up the league table.

“To be honest, I know nothing about Immaculata,” confessed Donald. “We have never played them in my time as manager. I was going to get them watched last week, but they are away at Kircubbin so it was too far away.

“We are going into the the game totally blind. From what I have heard, they are a good side. I’ve spoken to a few Carrick Rangers boys who have said they are useful. I know it’s a 3G pitch, but, other than that, I know nothing about them. Obviously we will be giving them a lot of respect because they are a good side.”

He added: “I want to keep our season going. We are struggling in the league, we have 15 games left but we can’t get a run of games because of the cups.”

With Immaculata having claimed some high-profile scalps already this term, Donald admitted the outcome of Saturday’s game is far from a foregone conclusion.

“Immaculata have beaten Knockbreda this year, as well as Carrick Rangers. They shouldn’t be in 1B. Obviously they are a better side than the level of football they are playing at and it won’t be long before they are in the Premier Division,” said Donald.

“We beat Ballyclare Comrades 3-0 in the last round and I thought it would have carried on to the Comber Rec game in the league, but we were a different team. We went out and we were too cocky and too confident and got beat 3-1. We need to start getting a run of league games to get a few points on the board to get away from the bottom.”