Club

First Trust Senior Cup Final Preview

7th February 2019
On Friday 8th February the First Trust Senior Cup final between City of Armagh RFC and Ballymena RFC will take place at Kingspan Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm). The fixture will be a repeat of last year's decider, when Armagh took home the coveted trophy to the Palace Grounds for the first time in their history. Ballymena will be hoping to win back the Senior Cup for the first time since 2012/13. Armagh have enjoyed a relatively trouble-free path to the final, with comprehensive wins over Bangor and Omagh, before defeating Rainey in the semi-finals. Ballymena, however, have had a much more challenging run, edging out one-score wins over Dungannon, Malone and Ballynahinch. WATCH IT LIVE! Unable to make it to the game, or want to cheer on your local club from overseas? With thanks to competition sponsors First Trust, the match will be streamed live on www.facebook.com/ulsterrugby with full commentary from Graham Jewhurst and Ulster player Darren Cave on co-commentary. The full match will also be uploaded to www.youtube.com/ulsterrugbytv following the game. MATCH-DAY SQUADS City of Armagh: (15-9): Ryan Purvis, Andrew Willis, Christopher Colvin (Capt), Chris Cousens, Shea O’Brien, Cormac Fox, Harry Doyle; (1-8): Paul Mullen, Andrew Smyth, Philip Fletcher, Joshua McKinley, Peter Starrett, James Hanna, Robert Whitten, Neil Faloon. Replacements: Jonathan Morton, Oisin Kiernan, Nigel Simpson, Evin Crummie, John Pollock. Ballymena: (15-9): Rodger McBurney, Jonny McMullan, Matthew Norris, Glenn James Baillie, Darrell Montgomery, Tim Small, Michael Stronge; (1-8): Nacho Cladera, Andrew Ferguson, Christopher Cundell, David Whann, Connor Smyth, JJ McKee, Marcus Rea (Capt), James Gallagher. Replacements: Jonny Spence, Josh Bill, James Taggart, Connor White, Dean Reynolds. PATHS TO THE FINAL City of Armagh: Sat 1st Sep: City of Armagh 50 Bangor 14 Fri 14th Sep: City of Armagh 40 Omagh 3 Sat 5th Jan: City of Armagh 31 Rainey OB 15 Ballymena: Sat 1st Sep: Dungannon 18 Ballymena 22 Sat 15th Sep: Ballymena 33 Malone 27 Sat 5th Jan: Ballymena 22 Ballynahinch 20 TICKETING Tickets (general admission) can be purchased in advance online from www.ulsterrugby.com/buytickets, or on the gate from 6.30pm on match day. Advance online purchase prices: Adults £8, Juniors £4, Under 5s go FREE. Match day gate prices: Adults £10, Juniors £5, Under 5s go FREE.