News

20/08/2009 : Ballyclare friendlies will test Coleraine

THERE is a buzz about Coleraine Rugby Club squad as final preparations are made for the new season.

The first matches of the season will see Coleraine entertain two Ballyclare teams, a 1st and 2nd side, in pre-season friendlies at Rugby Avenue, starting at 2.30pm on Saturday, August 22.

Training is going well at Coleraine and the squad has been strengthened with the inclusion of some new blood and also the pre-season preparations of many key players. Hopes are high and the level of commitment shown already augurs well for the league and cup campaigns.

Captain Steven Dickey is ready for action. He said last week: “There is a lot of enthusiasm among the players this year. We have been training well and things are really starting to shape up

“With some new squad members joining us and most of last year’s squad back and ready to go, we are looking forward to getting into action. I will be giving 100 percent to the team and I know that all the boys feel the same.”

Coach Richard Kernohan has spent a lot of time in the off-season, putting his plans together. Now it is time to put them into action.

Speaking on Thursday Richard said: “We are playing Ballyclare next Saturday in the first match of the season. It is our only pre-season fixture and then it is straight into cup and league action.

“At that stage will not really have had time to see all the squad in action and in some respects we will be treating the first competitive match, the Junior Cup match against Ballymena 2s on August 29, as a pre-season game, to get a feel of how the squad is going to shape up.

“That is followed by another Junior Cup match away to Enniskillen and then we hit the league. The first three league games will be crucial, away to Cooke and City of Derry, followed by Dromore at home.

“Cooke and Derry we know will be tough games and Dromore we know have recruited heavily in the off season and they will no longer be the whipping boys in the league. Those first three games will give us a real idea of what the season has in store for us.

Preparations are continuing. “This week it is a case of cramming as much training in as possible. We have been focussed on fitness and now we will be looking to get the team playing together and working on tactics and moves.

“The mind set of the boys is fantastic. A lot of the squad have been putting in a lot of training on their own over the summer and they are looking very fit and sharp.

“The squad has been increased with quality players coming in but on top of that the guys who have been here from last year are in far better shape now than they were at the end of last season.

“Players like Stephen Jefferson, Johnny Gault, Sam Bartlett, Peter Bogle; they are looking really good. Then we have the likes of young Conor Smyth coming up from the Colts as well as Josh Christie and Peter O’Hara coming into the squad. They are full of enthusiasm.

“We also have Peter McNay and Dennis Taylor and Paul Roxborough back again and looking very sharp. In fact all the players in training have been working hard and showing great potential.”

There is a good feeling in the Coleraine camp and everyone at the club is looking forward to a successful season.

Richard said: “It is great to see so many Coleraine guys coming and playing for Coleraine and overall the squad is in very good shape.

“We haven’t yet had all those people out together in training at the one time and from this week on that is what we will be doing. My belief is that we have a better squad, in better shape than last season, and the drive and enthusiasm is stronger than ever.”