Burns happy his boys made history for Newtowne

The Limavady men cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win over Crumlin United and now everyone at the club can’t wait to see who they meet in next month’s draw as the ‘big boys’ enter the competition at this stage.

However while the majority of the players will be hoping to play at either Solitude, Windsor Park, the Oval or Seaview, Burns on the other hand would love to face another team his boys could possibly beat.

“I think the boys would love to play Cliftonville or Linfield or Coleraine, Glentoran or Stute but to be honest there’s a few teams who are like ourselves at Intermediate level, that if we were drawn at home we might have a chance to beat them,” he stated.

“Look at the end of the day yes we are in the fifth round but I would love to go as far as we can, but yeah if we were going to get a big team I would probably would like to get the best team in the country and go and enjoy it, but more importantly go and try to give a good account of ourselves.”

Burns has been with the club for a number of years but he admitted Saturday’s win was his proudest moment with the Roesiders.

“There was a wee bit of a celebration on Saturday night,” he joked.

“The boys were in good tune, which we all were but to be honest we were more proud than anything.

“I have been involved with Newtowne for a long time and I think it’s between 20 and 25 trophies which we have won that I have been involved with, but to reach the Irish Cup fifth round was probably my proudest moment.

“I have to admit it was the most nervous that I have ever been before and during a game of football. I think when we lost 10 players two summers ago and five players this summer to Limavady United and the players that we lost were experienced Intermediate players, so because of that it really has been my proudest moment.”

Burns was also quick to point out the support chairman Martin Holland and all the committee gave him during the summer.

“When we lost the players to Limavady I met with Marty and the committee and I told them that I wanted to go young and build the team properly and we are doing that,” he added.

“Some people questioned whether we were going in the right direction, but I have great belief in the squad, I know what they are capable of and I was delighted for both my squad and the committee who have backed me.”

Newtowne were only leading 1-0 at half-time thanks to Stephen Duffy’s strike and both sides had a man sent-off before the interval, Declan Logue and Paul McIvor netted after the break before Duffy scored again then in stoppage time Crumlin scored a consolation goal.

This weekend Burns side travel to Bangor in the Intermediate Cup and he wants a similar display, as they have nothing to lose.

“I think we have surprised a few teams as we are playing some great football at the minute, so make no mistake about it we are going to Bangor and I will be very, very disappointed if we don’t go there and not put on a show,” he added.

“Yes no one expects us to win because they are flying but there’s still that little bit where the boys want to go and show what they can do and we are quite capable of going to Bangor and mixing it with them.”