David Jeffrey: 'R word will not even enter our headspace' ahead of Irish Cup final against Crusaders

​The Sky Blues took the lead against Crusaders due to a ninth-minute own goal and held that advantage up until the 93rd minute when defender Josh Robinson scored a late equaliser for the Seaview outfit.

If that wasn’t heart-breaking enough, Jonny McMurray then pounced in the dying moments of injury time to dash Ballymena’s hopes of winning the competition for a first time since 1989.

Jeffrey’s men – entering their fourth final of the past decade – have an immediate chance to try and get their hands on silverware but the former Linfield chief insists ‘the R (revenge) word’ won’t be part of his pre-match pep talk.

“The analysis is done,” he said.

"Our best wasn’t good enough. You don’t go seeking revenge when your best wasn’t good enough.

“We will try to give our best again and hopefully it will be good enough this year.

“No-one is feeling we are victims of injustice, we were beaten by the better side.

“If you don’t sit down and factually analyse what happened all you are doing is fooling yourself.

“I’ve been around too long to do that and my players know I’ll be real with them.

“I can promise you the R word will not even enter our headspace, that is the absolute truth.

“It’s absolutely gone. I’m blessed with a wonderful group of players and when we look back on the game we were bitterly disappointed.

“I came in here and, no shame in it, cried like a baby such was the anguish for a litany of reasons.

“It was a very cruel way to lose a game of football and a final.

“But in the final analysis, while knowing it was cruel, had we taken our chances or defended better at set pieces we would have been Irish Cup holders. That’s the long and short of it."

Defender Robbie McVarnock has been one of the shining lights for Ballymena since joining from Championship side Newington in January.

He produced a stunning display in their 2-0 victory over Larne and Jeffrey praised the work done by ‘genius’ Bryan McLoughlin in identifying the 23-year-old.

“He was playing for Newington at Christmas, never mind last season,” added Jeffrey.

"It’s a fairytale story and another piece of Bryan McLoughlin genius.

“We restructured our staff and Bryan could concentrate on recruitment while Nathan McConnell and Thomas McDonald came in as assistant coaches.

“Bryan thrives on finding young players and Robert is a character.

"That’s part of the romanticism of the Irish Cup for a young man who was with Newington at the bottom of the Championship to breaking into our team and understanding the principle if you play well you will stay in the team.

“It’s a fantastic story for him to be involved in a cup final and he’s an excellent young man as well as quite a character.”