IRISH CUP: Limavady meet unknown '˜Farmer'

Limavady United v Sofia Farmer (Tennant's Irish Cup Second Rd)

Limavady United step into the unknown this week when they entertain Ballymena side, Sofia Farmer, in the Tennants Irish Cup Second Round at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

Farmer were only formed in 2012 unlike their more illustrious opponents who have been going for over 125 years.

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During their first season as an intermediate club, 2015-16, the club struggled to make an impact in the Ballymena & Provincial League, drawing two and losing 15 of their matches, with one match not played.

They suffered several heavy defeats, including losing 15-1 at Magherafelt Sky Blues, 15-0 at Ballynure Old Boys and 18-1 at Dunloy.

However this season has been a different story with the fledgling club finding their feet and they are currently third in the Ballymena & Provincial Premier League. They are four points behind leaders Wakehurst but have a game in hand having only played five games.

They have won four of those games, losing the other whilst scoring on average at least two goals per game which suggests this will not be an easy game against opposition who have brought in players from all over the world.

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Sofia Farmer have players from Portugal, Bulgaria and even an ex-Senegalese international in their ranks and United manager, Paul Owens, admits it’s a little bit of the unknown for his side in this game.

“To be honest I don’t know an awful lot about them but that’s what happens in games like this,” explained Owens.

“Looking at results etc from last season they looked pretty poor but that appears to have changed for this year.

“They have added quite a few Portuguese players to their squad and have started pretty well do far. I certainly don’t expect an easy game from them, I’m sure they will be well up for it against us.”

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Despite not knowing much about his opponents Owens is feeling confident going into the fixture.

“They will make it difficult for us, that’s to be expected, but we just have to worry about ourselves.

“As long as we perform to the best of our ability then I’m sure that we can get the result we need.

“We just have to look after ourselves and the rest should fall into place from there.

“Sometimes in these games it’s not about the performance, at the final whistle it’s all about the result and hopefully we’ll get the right one,” he ended.

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