By Kieran Lynch

“The message is just to be nice and relaxed, not to get caught up in the occasion and just go out and perform the way that they can.”

These are the words of advice manager Kevin Franklin will have for his Silverbridge side before they take to the field on Saturday night and try to topple heavy favourites, Crossmaglen.

Despite the odds being stacked against them, Franklin is defiant about the quality of his squad, and believes they are well capable of causing an upset.

“If they go out and play to their potential, then we have every chance of getting through to the final.

“We’re under no pressure, and we’re under no illusions of the expectations for Crossmaglen from everybody else. But we have a good team, they work hard, they’ve got to the semi-final on merit and if they replicate what they’ve been doing in the past few rounds, then we’ve got a chance.”

Silverbridge are no strangers to causing an upset, as Division 1A league champions Dromintee can attest to.

“We don’t mind that (being underdogs); we’ll take whatever tag we’re given. In the first round we were massive underdogs against Dromintee, and we didn’t really take that on board.”

That win, in the first round of the championship, gave Silverbridge the belief that they can compete with and defeat the best teams in the county.

Last time out, 2-1 from Sean Rock helped the Harps to an enthralling 4-11 to 3-09 win over local rivals, Cullyhanna, but Franklin admits his side struggled at times. However, in championship football, all that matters is that you get the win.

“Cullyhanna caused us a lot of trouble, and we did struggle to deal with them, but we came out on the right side of it, and it has given the boys a real boost heading into the semi-final.”

Next up is another neighbour, Crossmaglen, and Franklin stressed the importance that his team use the added interest in the game as a positive, rather than as a distraction.

“It adds a wee bit extra. It adds a wee spring in their step, a bit of urgency to what they’re doing, and there’s a lift in the percentage of effort – It’s the semi-final stage as well. But the message will be, ‘It’s just another match, you have to go out and perform. You have to do your job; it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. Don’t get side-tracked by the opposition or the occasion.’”

Crossmaglen, who have beaten Silverbridge in the championship in each of the last two years, will bring with them an abundance of quality, including the championship’s top scorer Rian O’Neill. How do you stop quality players like that?

“Put a leash on them and pin them to the sideline would be one way of doing it, I suppose!” Franklin joked.

But he can appreciate the quality that his side faces on Saturday is no laughing matter.

“They’re great lads, and they’re super footballers. But we’ll go out there and try to match up with them. We’ll try and get as many scores at their end of the pitch, as they do at ours. You can’t get too obsessed with who the other team have. You have to back your own players. If we go out and just focus on Cian McConville and Rian O’Neill, then the likes of Ronan Fitzpatrick or Callum Cumiskey will pop up with the scores.”

WATCH HIM… Silverbridge boss Kevin Franklin says that Crossmaglen’s threats come from all over their team, including the likes of Callum Cumiskey