Irish Premiership play-off drama awaits this week
The Irish Cup final between Linfield and Cliftonville may take centre stage in the Northern Ireland domestic footballing calendar this week but for the clubs involved in the European and promotion-relegation play-offs there is also a lot at stake.
The end-of-season action begins on Tuesday night, with the first leg of the promotion-relegation tie between Institute and Ballymena United, a game which will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
The second leg will also be livestreamed on the same platforms as the Sky Blues aim to preserve their longstanding top flight status and Institute attempt to return to the Premiership.
Kevin Deery's charges ensured their participation in the matches in dramatic fashion on Friday evening as Michael Harris's stoppage time goal saw them beat newly crowned champions Portadown 1-0 and leapfrog rivals Bangor and Annagh United in the Championship table to claim runner-up spot.
Their performance this season is made all the more remarkable by the fact that they finished 11th in the second tier last season and were only spared a relegation play-off by Warrenpoint Town's demotion to the Premier Intermediate League.
This time last year, and indeed in 2022, Ballymena were preparing to face Crusaders in successive Irish Cup finals but it's a very different story this time for the Braidmen, who ended their league campaign in 11th spot.
“Away at the Brandywell is going to be difficult. Institute are really well drilled, I have a lot of respect for Kevin Deery and what he has done there. He has built a squad from scratch really this year," said Ballymena manager Jim Ervin.
“They have done really well and they go right to the wire as you saw on Friday night, and they got the winner through Michael Harris, who is a big danger.
“We have our homework done on them, we’ve been to watch them quite a few times, so we know what to expect from Institute. It’ll be a really tough game but it’s one that we look forward to."
European place up for grabs
On Wednesday night, the focus turns to the Europa Conference League play-offs as Crusaders, Glentoran, Coleraine and Carrick Rangers bid to join Linfield and Cliftonville in progressing to the qualifying rounds of that competition in the summer.
The play-off semi-final between the Glens and the Bannsiders at the Oval will be livestreamed on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Meanwhile at Seaview, departing Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter will lead his side into battle against a Carrick team who this term achieved the club's best-ever finish of seventh.
“It’s a remarkable achievement. The lads have been phenomenal and they deserve immense credit. We’ve achieved what we set out to do and now I want to go on and better it," said Carrick boss Stuart King.
“Our task is to keep doing what we have been doing this season and now go and compete with the big boys," he added.
Baxter knows his side face a difficult test in the form of the east Antrim outfit.
They’re a good side, they’ve had some fabulous results this year and beaten a lot of the top teams. So nothing’s going to be handed to you. Nothing is easy," reflected Baxter.
“There’s no time for me to sit back and be sentimental. We need to knuckle down, work hard and get on with the game in hand and try and find our way into a final if we can."
The European play-off final will be played on Monday 6 May at the ground of the club which finished higher in the final Premiership table at 15:00 BST, a match which will again be available to watch live on BBC iPlayer.
