Ballymena United boss David Jeffrey gives full credit to his players for booking spot in another Irish Cup final

A first goal from 19-year-old defender Craig Farquhar and Douglas Wilson’s superb free-kick secured progression for the Sky Blues into a third final in four seasons.

They will again meet Crusaders – the team that defeated them in last year’s final at Windsor Park in devastating fashion by scoring in the dying seconds of both normal and injury time.

What makes this achievement all the more impressive is the fact that Ballymena have been struggling in the Danske Bank Premiership, where they currently sit ninth following a run of 11 without a win.

Jeffrey’s men needed extra-time to get past Championship team Ballyclare Comrades in the quarter-final but with that now a distant memory and Sunday, May 7 circled on their calendars, the former Linfield boss paid credit to his players.

"I'm delighted, particularly for the players who I thought were magnificent,” he said. “We've been going through a tough time with results in the league and I know better than anybody that football is a results-driven business.

"I've got to say that throughout this challenging period the players have never thrown the towel in and have worked tremendously hard - they have worked their socks off.

"They have stood up and been counted and I asked them to go again and to believe they could do it.

"Our first round we had the draw no one wanted away to Carrick and got through that.

"We then had Newington and Ballyclare and people thought those were definite banana skins, particularly when they looked at our league form and we got through that.

"They never gave us a chance (against Larne) but I told the players to believe in themselves and I believed in them totally.

"I said ‘if you go out and give it your best and get that little bit of good fortune then you never know where it can take you’.

"I'm very fortunate to get to another cup final. This is our third which is good going.

"All of the credit and praise should go to the players because while we can work very hard with them ultimately it's down to them when they cross the white line."

Despite the heart-breaking manner of both previous cup final defeats, Jeffrey says it wasn’t a source of extra motivation.

"Motivation is obviously there but that didn't motivate us (against Larne) - we barely mentioned that,” he added. “It was simply about can we get ourselves to another cup final?

"I said to the players that you play this game as if it's your first, last or only game - that's how you have to approach it.

"You never know when you'll get another opportunity to get to another Irish Cup final and that was the driving factor."