Author: Lewis Bennett
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Big guns beware… Ballyclare and Newington showed they can cut it when chips look down
The Irish Cup last-16 proved a fruitful round for Championship clubs, with six entering the fray and four coming out the other side unscathed. Indeed, there wasn’t a single instance of a Premiership club toppling a second-tier adversary, with north Down duo Bangor and Ards eliminated by division rivals Portadown and Institute respectively. Harking back…
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Five managers who could succeed legendary supremo Stephen Baxter at Crusaders
By Callum McFadden Stephen Baxter has announced that he is stepping down as Crusaders manager in the summer of 2024 after 19 years in charge of the club. Speculation will be rife in the coming months as to who may replace the man who is the longest-serving manager in world football at the moment. I…
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Michael Moore: Tight-knit dressing room just what Ballymacash need to light up our PIL promotion bid
From the midst of a Mid-Ulster League title race to a televised showdown in the Irish Cup, it’s been a whirlwind two years for Ballymacash Rangers. Battling hard for promotion, it was an objective they would ultimately fulfil; 79 points out of a possible 90 was good enough to fend off Crewe United and take…
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Michael Moore: Beating Glentoran in Irish Cup is a huge ask… but we’ll give everything we’ve got for the Ballymacash cause
After a few weeks of waiting, cup fever is starting to sink in at Ballymacash Rangers Football Club. The Premier Intermediate League side will welcome the BBC cameras along to their Bluebell home on Friday night for an Irish Cup match that will, in a historic club first, be beamed out live across the United…
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Coagh United’s perfect January a major boost to Co Tyrone’s place in the Irish League
A few weeks can make a big difference in football – and that is something Coagh United can suitably attest to. After joining Rathfriland in achieving promotion through the three-team play-in last summer, the Co Tyrone outfit had yet to ignite in the league standings during 2023 and, having scooped up merely seven points from…
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Stewart Nixon’s resurgence is an inspirational feelgood tale of the 2023/24 campaign
Seeing a player who has battled hard through personal adversity to return to their peak performance will never not be a satisfying sight. That’s exactly the case with Stewart Nixon, the flying forward whose injury hell finally looks to be behind him. At the start of this season, the fleet-footed attacker made a surprise loan…
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Steven Davis always stood tall through the good and bad… that’s why he’s a Northern Ireland titan
One of Northern Ireland’s greatest-ever servants has called time on his career and leaves a void that will take a long, long time to fill. At the age of 39 and after a glittering career both at club and international level, midfielder Steven Davis has called time on his playing career. The Cullybackey icon’s 140…
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Five 21-or-under breakout stars from the Playr-Fit Championship in 2023/24
The latest young star to swap the Irish League for the football scene in England was centre-back Craig Farquhar, who switched from Larne for Crystal Palace during the January transfer window. The defender, who had joined the Invermen only the summer before from his home town club Ballymena United, made a six-figure move into the…
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