Steel & Sons Cup Quarter-Final
Belfast Celtic v Newington (Glen Road Heights, Saturday, 2pm)
IT took a penalty shootout to separate Belfast Celtic and Newington at the semi-final stage of the Steel and Sons Cup in 2019 and there is every reason to believe Saturday’s quarter-final rematch will be every bit as close.
At Seaview, Newington claimed a 3-1 win on penalties after the game finished 1-1, but the North Belfast men subsequently lost the Christmas Day decider to Linfield Swifts 3-1.
The sides clashed again last year in the delayed Intermediate Cup semi-final with Newington claiming a 2-1 at Seaview.
Given that Newington have held the upper hand over them in recent games, Belfast Celtic boss Stephen McAlorum feels his side are the underdogs ahead of Saturday’s eagerly anticipated meeting at Glen Road Heights.
“We lost out to them in the semi-final and we also lost the semi-final the year before that (to East Belfast) so we are hoping for better luck in the quarter-finals,” said McAlorum.
“It will be a good game between two good teams. It should be a good test for both teams and it is one we’re looking forward to. We want to play in the division Newington are in so these are the teams you want to be facing week in, week out.
“They’ve a lot of good players, Gary Warwick, who used to play for us and the likes of Richard Gowdy who is an excellent player. They’ll go in a big favourites.”
McAlorum insists he’ll make a last-minute decision on whether or not to bring Stephen Beatty back into the matchday squad following his recent exertions with the Rossa hurlers.
“Stephen (Beatty) hasn’t been there for a while and he is only back at training this week,” added McAlroum.
“We’ll assess him this week after two full training sessions. We’ve a very big squad at the minute.
“We’ve about 20, 22 players all vying for places and that’s what is different about us this year. Maybe we haven’t had the same calibre of players in the past, but we seem to be a tighter unit this year.
“We’ve a lot of young boys in the squad this year and they aren’t content just to do their two training sessions.
“They really look after themselves and go and do another couple of sessions on top of their regular sessions which is encouraging to see.
“They are really buying into what we are trying to do and want to go the extra mile."
Belfast Celtic defeated Immaculata to reach the quarter-final 
Belfast Celtic progressed to the last eight following a thrilling 5-3 win over West Belfast neighbours Immaculata in the last round with Padraig McParland scoring a hat-trick.
Newington also faced a local derby, but needed extra-time to see off the challenge of Crumlin Star at The Cricky with Conal Burns scoring the vital goal in their 1-0 win.
Manager Paul Hamilton was pleased with how his side fared in the last round, but believes his side will need to raise their game even further to overcome Belfast Celtic this weekend.
“It was a very tight affair and it was always going to be that way,” said Hamilton.
“Overall, I thought we deserved it to be honest.
“The Star probably don’t feel that way. Our objective is always just to make it through to the next round.
“We work a lot on our defensive shape and it is a ‘first to the ball’ attitude with our boys in everything we do.
“Belfast Celtic are a different animal. We respect them, but we won’t fear going up to their house to play them.
“We played them a few times in cup competitions in recent years. It will be a tough tie. It is getting down to the nitty gritty of a cup competition and nobody wants to lose a quarter-final.”
Meanwhile, St James’ Swifts have been dismissed from the Steel and Sons Cup after it was ruled they fielded an ineligible player in their 5-1 win at Dunmurry Rec back in August.
In a statement, Swifts said that they were made aware of an issue regarding the player and made contact with the IFA themselves after which, they were told the player’s registration was invalid.
A subsequent appeal was only heard last week and the decision was upheld and, as a result, the Co Antrim FA ejected the West Belfast club from the Steel and Sons Cup.
As a result, Crusaders Reserves, who were due to face the Swifts, received a bye and progress to a meeting with Crewe United on Saturday with the winners scheduled to face Bangor in the quarter-finals next Wednesday.
