Burndennett experienced the highs and lows of cricket in the space of 24 hours. There were joyous scenes as they edged out Ardmore by 11 runs in the cup, but the next day they came out the wrong side of a tight match against Ballyspallen, by just two runs.

Captain Marty Mehaffey acknowledged that more consistency is needed from his men.

“We went from a real high beating Ardmore to really not turning up with the bat whatsoever on Sunday against Ballyspallen,” said Mehaffey.

“Ballyspallen to be fair are a decent young team who played hard and obviously wanted it more than us.

“We learn and we move on to another big weekend against neighbours Fox Lodge who look very strong and are off to a flyer on Friday night, then we welcome North County, who are another strong team with a great record In Irish Cup competitions. We need to be on top of our game again and hopefully bounce back with a result there to get us back on track to where we know we should be.”

Burndennett’s reward for beating Ardmore is an all Tyrone meeting at home to Bready, which Mehaffey recognises is about as tough a game as there is.

“It’s definitely not the draw we were looking for to be honest, as Bready in my eyes are the best team in the North West and nobody wanted them at this stage. We were hoping to avoid them and one other side, whereas the rest we fancied taking anyone after the performance against a strong Ardmore side on Saturday. That was a great game played in good fighting spirit from both teams and was enjoyable and credit to both teams played in the manner it should be.

“We will give 100% against Bready but we will need every player on top of their game to try and cause any kind of upset, but we always love being the underdog so there will be no pressure on us, whereas Bready will have it as they won’t want to slip up to us.”

Burndennett welcomed South African professional Marcello Piedt to the club, and he has made an instant impact.

“Marcello has slotted straight into the team, plays hard, with a lot of experience for a guy of 29 with the amount of first class cricket he has played. He got off to a good start at the weekend.

"He is still rusty, so I look forward to seeing him in full flow and I think he will be a very good asset for us with his all-round game. He has given all the rest of the team a lift as well and has settled in with the boys enjoying the banter already.”