DONEMANA KEEN ON THE DOUBLE

It’s a huge few days for Donemana, who remain on course for major silverware this season after an excellent win at Coleraine, thanks to half centuries from Andy McBrine and Raymond Curry.

They face Fox Lodge tonight in a game that will decide who progresses to the semi-final of the Faughan Valley Cup alongside Brigade, Ardmore and the winners of the Newbuildings versus Bready clash. Saturday sees a showdown at The Holm against a Brigade side that is expected to provide their main obstacle to trophies, while the following day they take on Eglinton in a bid to reach the Senior Cup final.

Donemana captain Gary McClintock has been understandably delighted with how the season has gone to date, but is aware major challenges lie in wait.

“Saturday was another brilliant win for us,” said McClintock. “It's always a hard game away to Coleraine and I think we made it comfortable in the end thanks to some brilliant batting by Andy and also Raymond Curry.

“It’s obviously a massive week ahead for us as we have a T20 game against the Foxies but the big ones are this weekend with Brigade in the league and Eglinton in the semi-final. Hopefully our big players can stand up for us and we can continue our good form.

“We have a settled squad with everyone available on Sunday, but there’s one change on Saturday with Ricky-Lee Dougherty in for younger brother Billy on Saturday to keep wickets, as Billy has a wedding but thankfully there are no injuries.”

McClintock has a remarkable record in the competition in that he and twin brother Gary all played in the six-in-a-row team that dominated the cup from 2012-2017, as well as lifting the trophy in 2020. It’s a magnificent seven, but the 27-year-old will be keen to make it eight to go along with the three league medals in his cabinet. Who would bet against it come the end of July at Beechgrove?