While they will enjoy the limelight, Waterford Crystal have got their priorities right. Attempting to cause a major surprise against FAI Cup holders Longford Town at Flancare Park tonight has a romantic ring to it for the Waterford junior club. Winning the FAI Junior Cup final against Westport next week is a far more achievable target, however.
Perhaps indicative of their approach, player/manager Brendan Rea, Niall Hogan, Keith Ryan and Stephen Hall are on holidays. All return in time for the Junior Cup decider.
"We'll be looking for a good runaround against Longford, but our priority is the Junior Cup final on Sunday week," said Crystal captain Paul Wyse. "Of course, we're looking forward to meeting Longford and we'll make a good day of it. It's a great draw for us as playing the holders has given us a lot of publicity. It's just a pity we couldn't have got them at home"
Longford, again without suspended captain Barry Ferguson, are wary of the threat non-league sides pose.
"I saw Waterford Crystal on Tuesday night and we know they will be well motivated," said Longford manager Alan Mathews. "We are on the proverbial hiding to nothing and we just have to make sure we do our work properly."
Shamrock Rovers are in a similar position, though with an expectedly more testing challenge against Ulster Senior League side Fanad United, at Dalymount Park tomorrow.
"This is not necessarily the foregone conclusion some people seem to think it is," said Rovers manager Roddy Collins who is without his captain Trevor Molloy, winger Pat McCourt and defender Steve Gough through suspension, and left back Keith Doyle through injury.
"When I won the cup the hardest game we had was against a non-league side. I hate these games. They are always the ones I most want to avoid."
Though Fanad are without five first-team players, Martin McAteer, Fergus Callaghan, John Doherty, Seamus Friel and Shane Sweeney, manager Ollie Horgan is upbeat about the task in hand.
"Realistically, it doesn't look great for us," said Horgan. "But you never know on the day. Anything can happen, and we live in hope. We're down a lot of bodies - all five of the lads who are missing would have played. That doesn't help. But we still believe we have a chance of beating them."
Initially, Malahide United's trip to Sligo Rovers perhaps offered the most realistic chance of a shock, though injuries and the fact his players are jaded has manager Bobby Browne a little less expectant. "As we did quite well in all the cups we ended up with a backlog of games in the league," explained Browne, the former Shelbourne player and one-time manager of Monaghan United.
"That meant we were playing Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday over the last couple of months. So the lads are feeling a bit tired. But it's a great tie to be involved in."
Key players, Stephen Bennett (ankle), John Lawlor (groin), Paul Reilly (ankle) and Paul Smith (hamstring) are out of the trip to the Showgrounds.
Sligo are without central defender Liams Burns (groin) putting added pressure on veteran Gerry Carr, scorer of the winning goal in the 1994 final, to pass a late fitness test on a calf strain.
Wayside Celtic feel they must curb the threat of Kieran O'Reilly, the league's leading scorer, if they are to overcome Cobh Ramblers at St Colman's Park. "Cobh are going great guns and we're well aware of all the goals Kieran O'Reilly has been scoring," said Wayside captain Ian Callaghan.
Kilkenny City and Finn Harps will be striving to give their respective seasons a lift at Buckley Park. Both have won just once this season with Kilkenny, bottom of the First Division, searching for a first home win of the year and Harps, second last in the Premier, looking for their first victory on their travels.
"We're treating it as just another match - we're not attaching any special significance to it," said Harps's manager Felix Healy. "But it's important we approach the game in the right frame of mind. We can't afford to have too lax an approach."
Kilkenny are without player/manager Pat Scully (ankle) but Paul Gannon returns.
Weekend Cup Fixtures
Saturday (7.30 unless stated): Carew Park v Douglas Hall (Hogan Park, 7.0); Cobh Ramblers v Wayside Celtic (St Colman's Park, 7.45); Kildare Co v Galway Hibs (Station Road); Kilkenny City v Finn Harps (Buckley Park); Lissadell Utd v Cherry Orchard (Richmond Park, 7.0); Longford Town v Waterford Crystal (Flancare Park, 7.45); Sligo Rovers v Malahide Utd (The Showgrounds).
Sunday (3.0): Monaghan Utd v Dundalk; Shamrock Rovers v Fanad Utd (both 3.0).
