Institute to take on Limavady United in big local derby tonight
Limavady United vs Institute
The Showgrounds
Tonight, 7.45pm
by Orlagh Mullan
Limavady United player/manager Paul Owens is relishing tomorrow night’s derby game with Institute.
The Roesiders were promoted from the Intermediate League last season, and they will welcome Paddy McLaughlin’s troops to The Showgrounds hoping to pick up three points that could catapult them to fourth in the table.
On the other side, ‘Stute know that a victory will take them level on points with Knockbreda at the top – however temporarily it may be as the Belfast outfit prepare to face Dergview on Saturday.
With three wins and four defeats in their first seven games, manager Owens has been relatively pleased with his side’s return to date.
A 2-1 victory over PSNI at the weekend has given them the perfect springboard going into this game, and he wants his side to build on it.
“The derby is probably the biggest game of the season when you look at the fixtures and the fact that it’s a Friday night under the lights I think it’s safe to expect the biggest crowd so far. We’re looking for to it. This is what we’ve been looking for over the last couple of years, we wanted to get back to the Championship and we wanted to have the big nights back at The Showgrounds,” Owens told the Derry News.
“We hadn’t been in the greatest of form and the last few weeks it’s picked up a bit and we got a really big win on Saturday. We’re hoping to just take that and build a bit of momentum going into the game. Back-to-back wins would be a massive achievement for us and if we finish with three points tomorrow that would give us a totally different mindset in the squad and give us that bit of belief that we can go on and achieve a top six finish.”
There is plenty of familiarity between the two, no less than United striker Robbie Hume who left to join the Drumahoe team at the start of the season only to return to The Showgrounds after three weeks. It’s something that Owens believes will add to a great game.
“I probably nearly know them all myself and a lot of players have been with both clubs. Some of they would be pals and run about with each other, but once it comes to kick off time we’ll be rivals,” insisted the midfielder.
“It’s a big three points for both of us for different reasons. They’re looking for a win that could take them top, while we’ve an eye on getting into the top six. There’s a real buzz about the dressing room this week and we’re all looking forward to it.”
It hasn’t been long since the sides last faced one another, with ‘Stute running out victors on penalities in a North West Senior Cup clash just a week ago – though both have first team players missing.
“We’ve got a bit of advantage in the fact that we know the team and we know the way they play, even seeing them in the cup game, though I’d say there will be a different look about the teams. We’ve a decent record against them in the last couple of seasons, and picked up a few trophies and some scalps.”
He continued: “We’ve always been looking to get up into this league to play these derbies. It’s a level playing field and we’ll be looking at it as a chance to drive up the table and get ourselves a point behind them, which would be a great return at this stage of the season – it’s something we’re looking to grab.”
Realistic
The Roesiders are currently sitting in ninth place in the Championship table, but they know another win could catapult them up as many as five places. It’s a target that Owens feels is realistic.
“You’re always looking to challenge the players and to come up from the Intermediate league and win one then lose the odd two, it’s probably been a steady start,” admitted the manager.
“We’re seven points clear of the bottom team, but if we’re looking to challenge the top six then the next thing is trying to put back-to-back victories together. Institute had a bad defeat a few weeks ago and they’ve bounced back well and won three of the last four to go second. The challenge for us is not just to win every few weeks – we have to build a run and a bit of momentum.
“I keep telling the players that I don’t think anybody has seen the real Limavady yet. We’re just doing ok, but we think we’re better than we’re showing and if we can start doing that then maybe over the next three or four weeks we can have people talking about us climbing the table,” he added.
Many expected Limavady to be in a fight for relegation from the off when the league kicked off over a month ago, but Owens believes that their performances to date have shown they can compete with anyone.
“Without coming across as arrogant, we wanted to come in here and challenge the main teams – that’s been our goal. There hasn’t been any team that has come and outplayed us this season and in terms of our dressing room we don’t think we’ve performed anywhere near what we can. We don’t fear anybody in the league,” insisted the midfielder.
“We’re not saying we’re looking to win it, but we do want to put in consistent performances. We’ve played seven games and nobody has cut us open or give us a tanking. We’ve nothing to fear and I feel over the last week the squad has settled down a bit so the more boys we can get on the training ground, the better the performances will get and we’re hoping that starts tomorrow.”