Steel Cup baptism of fire for Castle Star

The local club, formed just a few years ago, have landed a tough draw away to Championship 1 side Lisburn Distillery in the opening round of the Steel and Sons Cup.

Having finished as runners-up in Ballymena and Provincial League Junior Division 1 last term, Castle secured the right to ply their trade at intermediate grade in the Ballymena Premier League, and will play their home games at Taylor’s Avenue, home of Carrick Rangers.

Michael Dallas, who took over as the club’s manager a year ago, has a young squad under his wing, but with Player of the Year Warren Brown making things tick at the heart of the midfield, he is confident of a solid season.

However, before they can concentrate on the bread-and-butter of the League, the Star squad will have to ready themselves for Saturday’s trip (August 16) to New Grosvenor to face Tommy Kincaid’s Whites.

“To be totally honest, we don’t know what to expect but we won’t be sitting there. We will be going for it from the start. There’s no point in us going up there to sit back and be punished. We are going to go up there and go for it. You never know what can happen in football,” said Dallas.

“All the boys feel the same way. We know we’ve a mountain to climb, but, at the end of the day, anything is possible - it’s eleven against eleven.”

“Distillery are going to be massive, massive favourites. There’s no doubt about it. But we will go there and go for it.”