The County Antrim Shield’s unfortunate reduced status in the matchday calendar has come as a result of an evolution of priorities in the Irish League.
With full-time football and increased professionalism, European money has been considered much more of the essence among those dining at the top table during the past half-decade.
Those lucrative spots are normally afforded to four teams every year – the first and second-placed sides in the Sports Direct Premiership table, the Irish Cup winners and the victors in the end-of-season European Play-Off series.
And although the NI Football League has successfully boosted the profile of the BetMcLean Cup despite the lack of a Euro prize at the end of it, with a Sunday best showpiece commanding attendances in the region of 11,000 in the past two editions, the Shield has not had such success; indeed, the Final remains consigned to a midweek berth where the cold chills of winter are often at their fiercest, while Seaview at capacity is naturally dwarfed by what even a 60 per cent full Windsor Park offers crowd-wise.
Nevertheless, the County Antrim FA-sanctioned tournament is still packed with history and pedigree, and winning it always counts for something.
Accounting for over 130 years of memories made, the three most recent of those have belonged to a high-flying east Antrim team in red.
Accusations of a lack of seriousness taken in the competition that has been pointed at some clubs certainly can’t be applied to Larne.
The Inver Reds had not won the Shield in their history before December 2020, but they now find themselves targeting a four-peat. Penalty shoot-out successes over Glentoran in ’20 and Linfield in ’23 sandwiched their 1-0 triumph over the latter in 2022, with Tomas Cosgrove’s clinching strike in the second half remarkably being the only open-play goal at either end across their trio of deciders.
Victory against Glentoran here would see the harbour outfit emulate Linfield from 1932 to 1935 and later 1981 to 1984 and become just the second team – and first from outside the capital – to complete a ‘Bin Lid’ four-peat.
Unassuming it may look, but scratch under the surface and you’ll see that Tuesday night’s encounter could be history-making.
Larne have won five senior-status honours since Kenny Bruce’s takeover of the club in 2017, yet while their first-ever Premiership crown last year stands tall as the magnum opus, would they have reeled the Gibson Cup in without the Shield?
Perhaps not. That first prize gave them the taste for silverware, and manager Tiernan Lynch deserves credit for not taking his foot off the pedal.
He’s unsurprisingly keen on bringing back what would be the eighth senior trophy in the club’s 135-year history – and sixth under ex-Purplebricks chief Bruce – back to Inver Park.
And facing his former employers, Lynch doesn’t want standards to drop or Larne to accept a trophyless season. If the Shield keeps his charges hungry and makes sure that their winning mentality continues to burn brightly, then why wouldn’t he go on the offensive to win it year-in, year-out?
Yes, this may now be a competition whose glory days have been consigned to the archives and, yes, the Invermen have their sights on the more top-end prizes in the modern game. They still haven’t won the Irish Cup or League Cup – in fact, they’ve broken records for Final defeats in those contexts.
But the Shield has been a happy hunting ground for them and, wary of having their wrists burned, they have reaped the rewards of treating it with respect.
Should Larne complete the four-in-a-row, and with that elusive first Irish Cup on the agenda once more in 2024, it might just add a further dose of energy for filling the more barren spaces in their trophy cabinet sooner rather than later.
Elsewhere, while the North West Cup Final between respective Championship and Premier Intermediate leaders Institute and Limavady United has been postponed due to the stormy weather conditions, the Mid-Ulster Cup showpiece between Portadown and Dungannon Swifts looks a tasty match-up on paper.
The Ports, who have not won a cup competition of any kind since 2009, would appear to be underdogs owing to their lower-league status – but that would be to ignore their exploits in this term’s BetMcLean Cup, where three Premiership outfits have fell at their feet on their way to the Final.
Most recently, they bested archrivals Glenavon thanks to Ryan Mayse’s 27th-minute penalty seven days ago, and the fourth-placed side in the Playr-Fit Championship will bid for further momentum in their push for an immediate top-flight return by sealing silverware in the regional decider.
Niall Currie’s men are up against the team that pipped them to the relegation play-off post in last campaign’s Premiership, with Rodney McAree targeting a reversal in fortunes in 2024 given Dungannon were beaten in this Final under Dean Shiels the previous year.
Making the visit to Shamrock Park six points clear of the drop-zone, the Swifts – defeated by Larne but later buoyed at the weekend by the sight of academy product Conor Bradley’s first Premier League start for Liverpool – harbour ambitions of bringing the Mid-Ulster Cup back to Stangmore Park for the first time since 2016.
A date with destiny that can also spur them on to build breathing space from the relegation mire, expect two fired-up teams who’ll be fighting for every ball given there is more at stake than would seem on the surface.
Featured image from Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker.
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