There’s cup action all the way in the North West this weekend with semi-finals in five different senior competitions; the Senior, Faughan Valley, Eric Cooke, Sammy Jeffrey and Sperrin Springs cups.

Fox Lodge are involved in two of those, standing on the brink of history as they look to reach their first Senior Cup final, and captain Aaron Heywood is aware that the hand of history is on their shoulders.

“It’s a brilliant weekend of cricket in store for us, with two massive games,” Heywood told the Chronicle. “We have two cup semi-finals, two challenging games, but we have said all along these are the games we want to play in and the stages of the competition we want to be at.

“It’s up to us now to stick our hands up and really go for it. First up on Saturday is a home tie in the Sperrin Springs Cup against Ardmore which should be a great game. They have come into a bit of form since we beat them at the start of the season. We are looking forward to that to start the weekend off, hopefully with a victory. We have a few injury niggles but hopefully they will all be shrugged off for the weekend.

“That will lead us nicely into the Senior Cup semi-final at Eglinton on Sunday and there’s a real buzz about the place for this match, from players and supporters alike. We can’t wait to get going against a good Eglinton side who have been playing some excellent cricket recently.

“They have a few top players and it will be a difficult challenge for us on their home patch. We are looking forward to it on a good deck there, which it usually is, on a wonderful ground to play cricket. I know my boys won’t leave anything on the pitch and will give 110% percent. If we play to our potential and everyone busts a gut, we won’t be too far away. How good would it not feel to walk off the pitch on Sunday night knowing we have created a bit of history reaching our first Senior Cup final? We won’t be getting too carried away and let the cricket look after that. One thing is for sure the players won’t need any motivation for the game.”

Fox Lodge will have a new professional in their ranks, having managed to secure a replacement for the injured Marco Marais.

“It’s obviously disappointing that we have lost Marco Marais for a game of this magnitude, we would certainly have loved to have a player of his talent available. We have been fortunate though to have secured a replacement thanks to the efforts of Gary Hunt. Sri Lanka batting all-rounder Geeth Kumara is flying in and we are really looking forward to seeing him in action.

“I’ve spoken to him quite a bit this week and I know just how much he’s relishing the opportunity of playing in the semi-finals. He should settle quickly as he comes with a lot of experience, having played a lot of cricket in England so should be well acclimatized to UK conditions.

Kumara is a 34 year-old Sri-Lankan who has scored nearly 5000 runs in first-class cricket, with a highest score of 200. In addition the leg-spinner has taken 79 wickets with a best-bowling of 5 for 52.

In the other semi-final, Bready enter the lion’s den of Newbuildings in what is sure to be an epic contest. They go there though with their unbeaten league record intact after half centuries from Jamie Magee and skipper David Scanlon rescued them in a precarious chase at Bonds Glen. It will be a tough battle for them against a Newbuildings side high on confidence, backed by a large, vocal home support.

While Bready have dominated the league this past two seasons, you have to go back to 2011 for their last cup final appearance, and after the disappointment of last season’s one-wicket loss to Eglinton, they will be determined to be in the two-day showpiece final.

FIXTURES SAT (2pm)
Faughan Valley Cup
Bonds Glen v Brigade (1pm)
Coleraine v Newbuildings

Eric Cooke Cup
Burndennett v Eglinton
Bready v Donemana

Sperrin Springs Cup
Strabane v Glendermott (1pm)
Fox Lodge v Ardmore

NW SENIOR CUP (SUN 11am)
Eglinton v Fox Lodge
Newbuildings v Bready

SAMMY JEFFREY CUP
Strabane v Brigade
Glendermott v Coleraine