Lee Forsythe lives just a stone’s throw from East Belfast FC’s ground – but the Ballymacash Rangers boss won’t be extending any friendly neighbourliness this weekend.
The former Ards Rangers, Knockbreda and Islandmagee manager brings his Mid Ulster League Intermediate A leaders to the East’s Sydenham base this Saturday with a place in the quarter-finals of the Intermediate Cup the prize for the victors.
On one hand, Forsythe has a slight advantage; he knows the East inside out having coached a raft of their players down the years, the likes of Lee Finlay, Nathan McVeigh, Marc Roy, and Stephen Cockcroft to name a few.
On the other hand, however, his own options are decimated with so many of his recent captures cup-tied - the likes of Kian Story, Pearse McVarnock, Jordan Blair and Abby Sanusi – while Michael Moore, Chris Trussell and Ryan Kane are suspended and Guillaume Keke ineligible.
For all that, Forsythe admits he is tempted by the prospect of getting one over so many old friends, and on his own stomping ground too.
“It’s home from home for me, I’m an East Belfast boy, and I live right beside the ground in Sydenham, so it’ll be strange that way, it’s a game I can walk to,” he said.
“With the greatest respect to the Intermediate Cup, it isn’t one we’ve been prioritising this year, we have used the games so far to use squad players, but a few of them have moved on and it’s disappointing because a lot of our players can’t play in it because a lot of the boys we’ve brought in are ineligible.
“So it’s going to continue that trend of being a young team, but in saying that, our reserve team are excellent, they have won every game in their league, so we’ll bring a few of them in and they’ll hold absolutely no fear.
“It’s really a free hit for us, the league is our priority, as it is for the East, so it’s a game with no real pressure for us, we can enjoy the day but obviously we want to put on a good performance.
“There’s a lot of talk about the Amateur League and the Mid Ulster League and the comparisons between the two but I think the top half of our league in the Mid Ulster, ourselves, Crewe, Bourneview, Oxford Sunnyside... they are very, very good and would go toe-to-toe with any Amateur League team on any given day.
“The East are one of the standard-bearers in the Amateur League, them alongside Crumlin Star have been at the top now for many years, winning Steel & Sons cups and leagues.
“For us as a club, we are kind of new, and I think this is the first time we’ve been to the last 16 of the Intermediate Cup.
“So I’m looking forward to it, especially as I’ve a lot of friends there and it will be strange, I always found it strange at Ards Rangers playing against the East, living so close to the ground, and I know Mackers (Stephen Matthews) very well, Davy McConnell, Tommy Matthews, and a lot of their players played for me, so it will be interesting.”
REST OF FIXTURES: Armagh City v Moneyslane, Bangor v Newington, Brantwood v Limavady United, Coagh United v Ballymoney United, Valley Rangers v Rathfriland Rangers, Lisburn Distillery v Glentoran II.
