Lurgan will know by around 4pm on Saturday whether or not they are capable of mounting a serious title challenge after an unbeaten start to 2013.
Standing in their way at the Dub will be defending Premier League champions Pegasus and Lurgan will be hoping to do better than they did in their last outing against the Belfast side.
They went down 2-0 in the semi finals of the Ulster Shield at Civil Service and to add to an already daunting task for the Co Armagh side there is a touch of ‘wounded lion syndrome’ about the encounter.
While Lurgan can boast an unbeaten run so far this year, including a draw with title challengers Ballymoney, Pegasus will be anxious to bounce back from last week’s Irish Cup defeat.
Pegasus lost 5-2 to Dublin students UCD and it is rare for a team of Pegasus’ stature to leak so many goals over the course of 70 minutes.
Nevertheless coach Michelle Rainey is expecting a tough challenge from Gary Blythe’s side who have matured immensely this season.
“It was quite a physical game in the Shield semi-final and we are expecting more of the same on Saturday,” she said.
“Lurgan have proved with their recent results that they are a good team but we will be hoping for an improved performance after losing to UCD.”
Lucy McKee will provide the main threat to the Pegasus defence as she has been having a fine season to date and last week’s double against Portadown increased her tally to 19 for the season.
Comments