FAI Junior Cup Champions Villa FC are aiming to add the All-Ireland Presidents Junior Cup final to their trophy cabinet this weekend when they head to Northern Ireland.
The Waterford side will meet Northern Ireland's Junior Cup Champions Coalisland FC, pitting the FAI & IFA Junior Cup Champions against each other to decide the All-Ireland Junior Cup Champions.
Villa FC ready for the All-Ireland President's Junior Cup Final 🏆
FAI Junior Cup Champions @VillaFC1953 head north to face Coalisland FC tomorrow 🙌
Good luck to the players, staff & supporters 👏
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) January 13, 2023
The competition, which was founded in 2018, saw Limerick's Fairview Rangers claim the title last year against Willowbank FC after a penalty shoot-out victory in Tallaght.
Villa secured the FAI Junior Cup with a 1-0 win over Pike Rovers, another limerick side, at Turner's Cross last year and manager Conor Coad admitted the title has been huge for the club.
"It's definitely had a real impact on the club, the perception of the club and the interest of the club has increased, even things like the social media following has gone up so winning the competition has had a real impact," he said.
"It has changed probably the mindset of teams when they face us as well. Being the Champions puts a target on your back so teams who we face now are definitely more motivated against us to get a result.
"It has meant we've had to go up a gear ourselves and the players have put in a huge effort to maintain our standards."
Some very impressive shots taken this week of our new facilities.
Thanks to VeeLite for eagle eye view. #VillaFC #iamvillafc #YourFutureStartsWithUs pic.twitter.com/sHvIwJk50y
— Villa FC Waterford (@VillaFC1953) December 9, 2022
Villa will be without James Kennedy at the weekend who is suffering a long-term ACL injury.
Coad has been able to get some information on the weekend's opposition which should help in their quest to be the first Waterford club to win the competition.
"There are one or two games available but obviously, at this level, it is one of them where getting information on the opposition is quite difficult," he said.
"I've been able to speak to a few contacts to get a bit of information on the team which will be helpful but look, we know it is going to be a difficult game as it's a final and we've got to be right for it.
"We've trained well this week and the preparation has been good before we travel up on Saturday and we're determined to win. It's a competition and the motivation is high because we want to be the first team from Waterford to win the cup."
Kick-off is at 2 pm at Armagh City FC, Holm Park, Armagh.
