Instonians want to end the year on a high as they begin Senior Cup defence by hosting City of Armagh

It is a repeat of last year’s semi-final when Inst won with the last kick of the game, which proved to be a fairytale run for Paul Pritchard’s side as they also beat Ballynahinch and Queen’s on route to lifting the trophy.

The coach knows if Instonians are to retain the cup for the first time since 1958, they are going to have to do it the hard way this season as well.

Pritchard said: “It will have to be the same again from the boys. We are going against a 1A team again, we had Armagh in the semis last year and they will be the favourites again going into it.

"We’ll have to dig deep and bring our mentality that we have shown over the last couple of years and to get us to that victory in the final last year. It is just about if we can bring that again on Saturday.

“You look at Instonians, there are brothers in that team, there are cousins, there are guys that went to school together for seven years, some of them when to Inchmarlo together and there is a real good connection.

“There is a real nice feel about the club and that is a real positive.”

Inst go into the game with a five-point lead in AIL Division 2 and Pritchard wants their efforts from a busy schedule to continue to be shown on the pitch.

“We are really happy with how things have gone so far, there is still a lot to improve on and we still feel we can get a good bit better as a group.” he added.

“Sometimes the best thing for you is to have a lot of games rather than weeks off. We’re just trying to keep building momentum, defining and nailing our roles and I’m hoping this weekend shows the amount of rugby that we have played is a positive.

“Funny enough we seem to do quite well away from home against 1A teams. We’re happy to be at home, it is the last game of the year and 2024 has been a really good year for the club and it would be really positive for us as a group and as a club to finish on a high.”

Armagh have already won at Shaw’s Bridge this season in the Ulster League, but coach Chris Parker isn’t reading much into that result in at the end of August.

He stressed: “A lot of rugby has been played since then and a lot of key personnel were missing on both sides that day, so certainly we haven’t looked too much into that result and I’m sure Instonians won’t look too much into that result either.

“They are in great form at the moment and it should be a great game as long as the weather conditions hold out and allow both teams to play a bit of rugby.

“It’s probably the draw you didn’t want especially with how well they are going in the league this year.

“Beating Garryowen away in the Bateman gives them a lot of confidence and they deservedly beat us last year. It is a difficult job but I suppose you know you are going to have to beat the likes of Instonians if you are going to win the competition.”

Armagh haven’t lifted the trophy since completing a hat-trick of wins back in 2020.

“A lot of the guys from that three in a row have moved on, there are new guys here wanting to create their own history and get themselves some sort of silverware and get their photo up on the wall in the club house,” Parker stated.

“It is a bit of a buzz, it is something that everyone wants to get after and it gives you that route into the Bateman as well if you are successful in the Senior Cup and the chance to play at Kingspan Stadium.”