The book says ‘North Down – August 9th’ but in reality it has not turned out like that.  First of all the venue for the Goldblatt McGuigan sponsored Junior Cup was changed from the original setting of The Green at Comber.  Depending on what you believe, it moved to Lisburn, then it was not Lisburn and in actual fact it was Osborne Park on August 9th.  The home ground of RBAI came to the rescue of the Northern Cricket Union in this terribly wet summer. 

For Academy they have been here before, seen many cup finals and last won the Junior Cup in 2005.  Ballyclare based club Templepatrick are playing in their first ever cup final and with a young base, could be first of many such achievements.  With a washout on August 9th and worse rain postponing the reserve date of August 16th – its third time lucky for the Junior Cup.  Ironically the venue has had to be changed again – back towards Comber and Saintfield cricket club will host the final at the lovely setting of the Demesne.  The photo will suggest that a fair bit of work will have needed to have been done by the Saintfield club to keep the final on. 

You can therefore understand if both teams are a bit dizzy with all the change in their cup final.  Both teams probably haven’t played a game in August and now they are thrown in to a cup final that will be massive for both clubs. 

Way back when the wickets were like roads and the sun was shining – everyone had hope that the season was going to be delight with the god weather – May saw the 1st round of the Junior Cup.  Academy easily passed Dungannon by 7 wickets with Brian Boyd taking 4 wickets in the game.  Tie of the round was at the Green, Comber where it was a reply of the 2007 semi-final when North Down II’s had won a bowl out over Templepatrick.  It was pay-back time for Templepatrick and didn’t they just make North Down pay.  Setting the home team a huge 309 to win, Robert Smith blasted 98 and was aided by Chris Busby who hit 57 not out and then took 3 for 10 in a 113 run victory for Templepatrick. 
The 2nd round saw Academy defeating Waringstown II’s in a close 2 wicket triumph and Templepatrick just getting past Woodvale IIs by 2 runs, defending 157.  Academy eased past Portadown when they were set only 39 to win and Templepatrick passed the Drumaness total of 104 to win. 
The semi finals saw Academy play Millpark and Templepatrick host Lisburn IIs.  The big guns of Morgan (113), Kelso (81) and Greenlees (44) set up a 110 run win when they posted 265 for Millpark to chase.  At the Cloughan, the Templepatrick bowlers had done the work by bowing Lisburn out for 117, setting up a 4 wicket success and a place in the final.

It’s been billed as youth Vs experience as the borough of Newtownabbey boast both finalists. 
Academy will expect the years of experience to come good and take the cup back to Mallusk.  Batters with the experience of David Greenlees, Davy Menaul, Brian Kelso and centurian Morgan, they look strong.  The bowling is handy looking too, with loads of experience.  Brian Boyd, Lee Thompson and Hermon will be expected to keep it tight and most importantly take wickets! 
Templepatrick want to take the cup back to Ballyclare at their first attempt.  With the hard work in youth development coming good now, this is expected to be the start of the rise of the Templepatrick team.  Talented batsmen like Colin Morrow, Artie Campbell, Greer and Reynolds will have to make a score and with all-rounders Chris Busby and Bobby Smith they look to have a strong top order.  Smith had added a feisty 148 this season against Dungannon to the 98 he recorded in the cup.  Smith is also a top quality slow bowler that will help James Jackson, Keith Wilson and the Busby twins attack the Academy team in pursuit of victory. 

Who will win? – hard to tell as the league fixtures this season has a win each for both teams.  June 1st saw Academy score 291 for 3 with Greenlees, Menaul and Morgan scoring them.  They eventually won by 50 runs with Greer in the runs for Templepatrick. 
July 20th and the return game and Chris Busby took the limelight with 3 wickets for 4 runs in 10 overs and reducing Academy to 92.  Robert Smith saw the game home with an unbeaten 35.

So a very evenly matched fixture is due to take place, both team will really want to win it, it could go down to who wants it the most and who has the most passion on the day.  With both teams in the frame for the section 3 league – this could be the springboard for a special league and cup double. 

Good luck to both teams and I hope they enjoy the day!