Ballyclare's 'big match experiences' can hopefully help us in play-off battle against Skerries, says coach Mike Orchin-McKeever

​The Cloughan side finished fourth in Division 2C in their first season in All Ireland League rugby, while Skerries were ninth in the league above.

“The players have a lot of experiences from the knockout competitions over the recent four seasons,” commented Orchin-McKeever. “The Towns Cup, Junior Cup, all-Ireland Junior Cups and even the play-offs last season, working from junior to become an all-Ireland league club.

“You're hoping they are maturing and learning with every game, but also those big match experiences to help them too.

“I think in any competition match that's a semi-final, there's a lot of pressure on both teams to perform.

“The team that's finished higher in the league gets a team that's lower down, but then you contrast that with the team that's finished 9th is going to have an advantage.

“The fear of being relegated, it's not actually a cup semi-final, it's a huge impact for survival in the league that they're in, so they've a lot to play for, they're a proud club.”

Orchin-McKeever was happy to make the top four in Ballyclare’s first attempt.

“Absolutely delighted, this is a bloody competitive league, we went into the second last game of the season, we could have ended up finishing first, I think we could have finished as far as sixth,” he reflected.

“The last game of the season, we could have finished second and had a home play-off game or still finished sixth, so to ultimately finish in a play-off position has been really pleasing.

“It's a very competitive league with four new teams out of the ten, two coming down from 2B and two coming up from junior rugby.

“I think three of the new teams finished in the top five, so to get a play-off spot, we're absolutely delighted.

“We're in the position where if we lose, we're in the same league next season, where if they lose, they're relegated on the spot.

“So it's a different feeling outcome for both. They're fighting for survival for potentially two weeks in a row and we've got one shot to have another crack at being promoted for the second season in a row, but ultimately, our main focus will be just this Saturday and getting a winning performance away to Skerries.”

There is a huge Tyrone derby at Stevenson Park as Dungannon and Clogher scrap it out in the semi-final to earn a shot at promotion to Division 2A.

Gannon finished second in Division 2B, while their neighbours were a place below them.

Dungannon coach Jonny Gillespie is expecting a fierce derby.

“We had two tight games against them earlier in the season and we’ll have to play at our best otherwise it could slip away very quickly, so we have to be on it from the very start.” he said.

“As a group we discussed the fixture list earlier in the season and it was like 15 tough games and ones we all had to win really and we’ve won 14 of them.

"I think and that started away to Ballyclare in the Cup so the margin of error in this league is so small in that we won about 14 games and still didn’t finish top.”