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Gillespie hoping to end 17 year wait for second cup final victory

Thursday, 29 July 2010

FORMER Ireland international cricketer, Peter Gillespie, has enjoyed many highs throughout his career to date, having played over 100 times for his country, but he is still hungry for more success and he is keen to capture the Northern Bank Senior Cup on Friday and Saturday when Strabane take on Brigade in the final at Eglinton.
The 'Red Caps' last won the prestigious trophy in 1993, when they defeated Brigade in the decider and Gillespie, who was a member of that team, is hoping that, having lost their last three Senior Cup finals - in 1996, 2004 and 2006 - they can 'redress the balance'.
“We last won the cup in 1993 but we've gone down in three finals since then," he observed.
“We're hoping that we can reverse the trend this year and change that. This is my fifth final and I'd like to redress the balance.
“I was there in '93 and we have suffered three defeats since then. You start to realise when you get older that these kinds of matches don't come around very often.
“I've been lucky to have played in five finals in 17 years, but the older lads will be instilling it into the younger lads not to take it for granted because these occasions don't come around very often."
So far this season Strabane, who shared the Senior One league title with Limavady last term, have been in fine form for most of the campaign. As well as reaching the Northern Bank Senior Cup final they are involved in an eight-team tussle for the league crown, and reached the semi-finals of the Ulster Cup.
Gillespie realises though that while their form, for the most part, has been good, they have suffered a bit of a blip of late. On Tuesday of last week they fell to a shock defeat to St Johnston in the league and on Sunday were defeated by Instonians in the last four of the Ulster Cup.
Rather than take the indifferent form of their last few matches as a negative, the former Ireland man who has already surpassed the 1,000 run mark this season, is seeing those two defeats as a positive: "After a sticky start to the season we were flying up until the St Johnston game and Sunday. They are two blips, two poor performances but that happens to every team at some stage," he added.
“There have been a number of contributing factors. We've had our fair share of injuries, it's been a sticky tape job at times but hopefully those two performances are out of our system.
“We can learn a lot from those two losses. It's good to keep them fresh in the memory because they showed us how quickly things can go wrong if you're not focussed."
Gillespie feels that the Northern Bank Senior Cup final will follow a similar pattern to the rest of the domestic season so far, with plenty of entertainment in store: "It's been an interesting season so far and I don't think that Friday and Saturday will be any different", he said.
“The neutrals won't be let down. I just hope a good game ensues, but that we come out on top. Two innings cricket is different and it'll be new for a few of the guys.
“It's different because the conditions can change over the two days, you never know what can happen. Apart from that it will be much like a standard game. It will be about who keeps their head. We will have to keep our concentration and focus, it's the same in most cup and league matches.
“We've been playing well as a team all season, everyone is contributing and we need that trend to continue," he concluded.
Squads
Strabane: Jonathan Beukes, Kevin Martin, Ryan Gallagher, Peter Gillespie, Mark Gillespie, Tommy Barr, Ciaran Patton, Phil Eaglestone, Martin Deans, John Gillespie, Paul McNamee, Mono Sharma, Andy Lynch.
Brigade: Mark Simpson, Chris Dougherty, Niall McDonnell, Iftikhar Hussein, Richard Wylie, Mattie Moran, Johnny Thompson, Gareth McKeegan, Trevor Britton, Ryan Brace, Graeme Moore, Thomas Riddles, Nick Donnell.
The Northern Bank Senior Cup Final between Strabane and Brigade begins at 12 noon on Friday at Eglinton Cricket Club.

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