Institute hoping to make it four wins in a row today

Ballyclare vs. Institute

Today, 3pm

Institute head to Ballyclare today hoping to make it four wins in a row as Brian Donaghey’s young team aim to consolidate their place in the top six of the Lough 41 Championship.

A 1-0 win over H&W Welders last week has taken ‘Stute to their highest position so far this season, with Orrin McLaughlin’s first half goal enough to take all three points. That wining feeling is becoming more and more familiar at ‘Stute but what was particularly impressive for Donaghey was his team’s ability to dig out the win in a game which was played in horrendous conditions at the Brandywell.

“We were quite prolific in the previous two matches, but we knew that it would be a much sterner test against a very experienced Welders team,” he reflected. “They probably didn’t come here in great form but they have quality players throughout and they had a goal threat with McLelland and Ferguson. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, there’s no doubt about that, but we dug in, and that’s something we haven’t really done too often during my reign, to grind out a 1-0 result. It’s a credit to the younger players because they can realise that they can play good football and be expansive but, sometimes, when they have to dig in, they can.”

‘Stute have now won four of their last five league games, which represents a massive improvement in just two months. Back in September, a 5-0 loss to Welders was following by a 7-0 League Cup defeat at Glentoran, but the manager and the players have picked themselves back up and are now one set of results away from breaking into the top five. This in fact, is the team’s best run of form since March/April earlier this year when they won five league games in succession.

“I’m just delighted for the players,” Donaghey continued. “They put in a lot of work during the week and it’s come to fruition. We are nowhere near the finished article and we’ll be hard on them and keep on top of them, but you can see signs that they are starting to grow as a group and they are getting that more belief which victories bring. If you are losing three or four, it’s doom and gloom and you’re not looking forward to matches, but now they are looking forward to the next game.”

Good record

‘Stute now head to Ballyclare this weekend and they can do so with confidence given their recent record against the Comrades. ’Stute have won each of the last three meetings between the teams, including a victory at Dixon Park back in January.

“Ballyclare is going to be a huge game, they’re all huge,” Donaghey admitted. “When you’re coming off the back of three wins in a row, you can see what it does, it just elevates you in the table as well, and suddenly now you’re breathing down the necks of teams above you. We want to stay and consolidate ourselves in the top six, and you can only do that by winning games.

Ballyclare will be a completely different game from Welders; it will be a on a grass pitch which we’re not that used to. I can’t remember the last time we played on grass to be honest. We’ll worry about that later. We’ll regroup and have a plan in place and we’ll do our homework on Ballyclare as we always do. They are in and around the same place as us in the table, but the lads are looking forward to it already.

Midfielder Oisin Devlin, who suffered a head injury in the early stages of last week’s win over Welders, should be available for selection once again.