A Friday night showdown takes place at Iveagh Park between two clubs with contrastingly differing lengths of historical archive in the NI Football League.
Lisburn Distillery, one of the oldest football clubs on the island of Ireland, will face Irish League first-timers Rathfriland in the Playr-Fit Premier Intermediate League.
Two clubs nicknamed the Whites, the sixth-placed south Down hosts are hanging onto the coattails of the third-tier pacesetters in their first-ever campaign within the NIFL ranks and enter on the back of a 2-1 derby victory in Warrenpoint, but Distillery – three places back – are keen to make up the ground having played the fewest amount of games of any side in the division.
It’s a tasty encounter in prospect at the foot of the hill, and the work Ally Wilson has done with Rathfriland is worthy of immense credit.
On Boxing Day, Wilson guided his charges to Bob Radcliffe Cup glory for the second time since he took the reins – and masterminded it in merciless fashion.
The former Amateur League kingpins swept aside local rivals Moneyslane 6-0, with a brace of penalties by Andy Kilmartin kicking things off before Matthew Holloway hit another two either side of half-time and Jonathan Scannell fired home in a rout of their opponents from the Mid-League League.
Star of the show, however, had to go to the scorer of their fifth goal.
Ruairi Fitzpatrick is one of those who makes a difficult game look gleefully simple, breezing by defenders and leaving them with the wind when at his relentless pomp.
He was instrumental behind the club adding to a recent haul that includes the previous Bob Radcliffe honour in 2019, when they conquered Dungannon Swifts’ Under-20s in Armagh, a first-ever Intermediate Cup triumph in 2022 and a couple of NAFL titles in 2022 and ’23 – of which the latter saw them advance to the three-team play-off that secured their PIL place.
Rathfriland, founded in 1962, didn’t emerge out of nowhere, but their history in the not-too-distant past has been a statement of intent.
Also counting talent like ex-West Bromwich Albion youngster Jack Chambers in their playing camp, they have also seen sharp-shooters Adam Neale and Lee Newell depart the club to leave their mark in the Irish League with Bangor and Newry City respectively.
Now as a NIFL outfit themselves and with 19 points and six wins from their 11 league matches played, they are on the right track in their early days towards establishing themselves in the set-up in similar fashion to Newington, the last Amateur League institution to take the leap a decade prior who have since become a senior-status club in the Playr-Fit Championship.
Holloway was on target twice in the victory over the ‘Point and has been their scorer-in-chief, with eight goals in league play to date, and he has led the charge behind an altogether impressive start to Irish League life that also sees them currently hold the best defensive record in the league (11 goals conceded).
Compare their ‘newbie’ status to that of grand old Distillery, established in 1880 and a founder member of the Irish League.
The side that once welcomed Barcelona and Benfica to Grosvenor Park in Europe are making steady progress under former Cliftonville hero Barry Johnston, who took the mantle at the six-time Irish League champions and 12-time Irish Cup winners during the summer of 2022.
A stunning comeback success over Banbridge Town, recovering from 2-0 down to claim all three points through Cliftonville loanees Gerard Storey (penalty) and Jack Berry and six-goal top scorer Ryan McNickle, is the backdrop for entering this duel.
Will the Ballyskeagh battlers make their pedigree count? Or will the new kids on the block be too hot to handle?
There is one thing for sure regardless of result, though; having bedded in, Rathfriland aren’t going away any time soon.
Featured image from Rathfriland FC Social Media.
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