Cork County head into this weekend's Irish Senior Cup clash with Civil Service North, knowing that it will take a mammoth effort to overcome the NCU Premier League side.
The Irish Senior Cup has always been a competition that Cork County have performed well in; most notably in the 2003 edition, where they travelled to Ardmore and claimed an impressive nine wicket win. Bruce Koch was the hero on that day as he took 3-22 and scored a match winning 63 not out, however, he along with captain Robert Duggan are the sole remaining member of that team who will make the trip up north this year.
County warmed up for their trip in the best possible fashion with a four wicket win over local rivals, Cork Harlequins, at the weekend. The off-spin of Ciaran Healy was a key factor in that win as he took 4-28, while Bruce Koch found some form with the bat; scoring 47 not out to guide his team to victory.
County's chances of causing an upset were dealt a hammer blow during the week as it emerged they would be shorn of four of their regular first team starters. Ross Durity has been a long term absentee with a broken finger sustained in a pre-season challenge match against Port Laois and has failed to recover in time to take his seat on the bus come Friday. Veteran bowler Keith Banks will miss the match due to personal reasons, while Andrew Saul's work commitments have also ruled him out and Matt Reed who will be on holidays.
This has forced the County management to name a young and relatively inexperienced side however they still have some proven performers at this level. Captain, Robert Duggan, will be looking to overcome a poor performance with the bat against 'Quins at the weekend and get some runs under his belt, while Andy Wooton will be looking to restrict the CSN top order with some accurate new ball bowling. Wooton is likely to share the new ball duties with James Duggan, who has developed in to a solid opening bowler over the past two seasons; his pace and lift are likely to cause problems for the CSN batsmen.
Bruce Koch is unlikely to bowl after he suffered a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury against 'Quins. This will, no doubt, disappoint the County support as he has been one of the side's premier bowlers over the last decade. Ciaran Healy and Nicky Murphy will share the spin duties, while Pervez Ali provides back up in the seam department. The batting line-up has an inexperienced look to it without Durity and Reed so Duggan will be hoping the likes of Chris Banon and Des O'Leary can contribute.
CSN have had a mixed start to their season in the Ulster Bank Premier Division, having won one game and lost the other. They recovered from a four wicket loss at the hands of CIYMS to record a convincing 52 run win over Instonians at the weekend. Gareth McKee scored a hundred in that match and is a player County will have to keep quite if they stand a chance of winning. K Noema-Barnett, is another man to watch as the all rounder already has two half centuries under his belt an well as 6-27 against Instonians.
County will be relieved that CSN are likely to be without international duo Regan West and Nigel Jones. West has been a long term absentee after receiving surgery on a shoulder injury, while Jones is currently in the Caribbean with the Irish squad at the ICC T20 World Cup.
Play gets underway at Stormont at 12.
The Cork County team in full:
R. Duggan*; B. Koch; C. Banon; J. Duggan; P. Ali; A. Wootton; D. O'Leary+; C. Healy; D. Fogarty; O. Creedon; N. Murphy. 12th Man: B. Morgan
