Amateur League side looking to end biggest week in club's history with seismic Irish Cup shock

​The west Belfast side ran riot on New Year’s Day as they defeated Comber Rec, who sit two divisions above them in the NAFL pyramid, 6-1 at Seaview to lift the Border Cup and in a season to remember have enjoyed their deepest run in the biggest cup competition in Northern Irish football.

They’ve been rewarded with a trip to Stangmore Park and 32-year-old manager Decky McCrory insists his men won’t be altering their attacking brand of football which has brought them so much success in recent years.

"I believe we're a real turning point for football at our level,” he said. “There are lots of ways to win a match, but at our level a lot of it is about physicality.

"There aren't many players above six foot in my team, they don't look overly imposing, but our style of play is great. I don't see why I'd coach in any other way because I think it's the best way to get results if you can get everyone to buy in.

"It's a hard sell straight away because there have been bad days - I was in a team that got beaten 12-0 in Falls Park and we were sitting bottom-half of the BDSL.

"It wouldn't suit us to sit back. If we sat back against a bigger, physical outfit who can pump balls into the box we would invite pressure on ourselves. We want to go out, stop them playing and impose our style on them as early as possible, which is no mean feat. Our boys will be wearing their hearts on their sleeves.”

Saturday is about more than just 11 players on the pitch or McCrory achieving his dream of managing at the highest level with boyhood club Willowbank.

It’s also an occasion for their fans, members behind the scenes that have helped them get here and creating the next part of a legacy which could inspire the next generation.

"Win or lose, we'll be enjoying ourselves on and off the pitch because that's what it's all about,” added McCrory. “My two cousins are playing, my brother is playing and our family will be there watching so it means a lot to everyone.

"The mascots on Saturday will be our 2016's and we'll play a wee match at half-time. We're far from professional and any sort of celebrities, but the way they look at my players is just class to see. To them, they may as well be Ronaldo or Messi.

"We gave ourselves five years to get into Intermediate football...now our aim is getting into the Premier Division in the next five years.

"The only thing missing is that we're playing our home games in Larne, where the facilities are second to none and really suits our style of play, but we've a lot of kids in the community that look up to my boys and they don't get to see them play because it's a bit of a jaunt for them.

"We love it out there, but our end goal is to get somewhere around west Belfast to call home."

Willowbank, buoyed by silverware success and not losing a match within 90 minutes this season, won’t be playing with any fear and McCrory is daring to dream.

"We're the definition of Amateur League...my boys give me £5 each match to pay the referee and they pay £20 per month for the training facilities,” he said. “It's almost like a social experiment with everyone buying in to see how far we can push it against higher up teams with no budget!

"You go into every game believing you can win because there's no point being there otherwise. We are daring to dream. Stranger things have happened in football - Leicester City won the Premier League!

“Dungannon beat Newry City 5-0 last weekend and we have all the respect in the world for them. They play a decent style of football themselves so it'll be an interesting match.”