Instonians' home boost to kick off bid for number 21 as Ballymena the visitors
Instonians start their quest for a 21st Ulster Senior Cup with a home game at Shaw’s Bridge against Ballymena in Group 1 after last week’s match with Queen’s was postponed.
Paul Pritchard’s side warmed up for the start of the campaign with a run-out on Tuesday night.
“We got a good run-out against Ulster Development on Tuesday night which is what we needed with not having the game on Saturday,” said Pritchard. “We can't use it as an excuse here, we just got to do what we can.
“It'll be nice to sort of know where you are a little bit more...you do a lot of team-on-team stuff in pre-season but you don't really know where you're at until you go against another team.
“We're expecting a very tough test against Ballymena this weekend, they've recruited fairly well and they've got a lot of experience in there...so we're looking forward to the challenges that will bring.
“Hopefully, in these next two games, we'll get to look at a few different things in terms of players getting some game time as well as looking to see what we've been doing that's working and what we've been doing that needs more work on.”
Pritchard was happy with the club’s recruitment during the summer.
“We brought in a couple of guys with great All-Ireland experience, Lukas Kenny there...obviously with some sort of senior experience as well,” he said. “Not too many in, thankfully, and none really out.
“We’ve got what we've got at the stage, it's our job as coaches to do the best with what we've got.”
The player/coach is coming up against one of his former clubs today, who will be looking to bounce back after a home defeat last week to Clogher Valley.
“I think the coaching staff there and all now are sort of my era, it probably adds a little bit of competitiveness, personally.
"It’s about us getting some good minutes and, hopefully, seeing some good stuff on Saturday.
“They’ve signed very well in terms of experienced guys in there, so I'm expecting a very tough test, exactly what we need and, hopefully, exactly what Ballymena need as well.”
With no game last week Instonians only have two games to prepare for the All Ireland League.
“I think that's probably the most frustrating thing about last week, there's a lot of guys we would have liked to have got in and had opportunities, we now have one less game to do that,” he said. “We'll try and do it in some form over the next two games, obviously, we'd like to go as far in the cup as we can.
"We're happy with the team we have out this week and then we'll see how it goes it'll be slightly different for the following week.”
Former Queen’s duo Will Cusack – at No8 – and Kenny – in the centre – make Instonians debuts.
In the other group game, Clogher Valley look to make it two wins out of two as they host Queen’s.
In the Senior Shield, Enniskillen play their first-ever senior game at home as Ballyclare travel to Co Fermanagh.
Rainey, victorious last week, travel to Gibson Park to face Malone.