FRANK Wallace has kicked about at Enniskillen Town since he was a cub and on Friday evening he’ll run out at Windsor Park for the biggest game in his career in the sky blue jersey.
35-year-old Wallace came through the youth ranks at the club under the stewardship of the likes of Brian Lindsay and Gerard Connolly and progressed into the reserves team under Barry Corrigan and Emmett Carty.
When he was 19 he broke into the senior setup under Rory Judge and despite the opportunity to play for Dergview and Ballinamallard, the ‘true blue’ has an affiliation with the Town club that runs deep.
His uncle Brian O’Neill is a former chairman and his father Alan is never far away from the sidelines on match day.
“It’s very close to my heart,” he said, as he bids to attain the missing piece of silverware from his collection.
“I’m getting on a wee bit now, so it’s good to finally represent them in a Junior Cup Final.
“I went and supported them in finals and it’s quite a big gap to getting back there.
“It’s the one that keeps getting away from us but hopefully this can be the year we can bring it back,” said Wallace.
“This is the final piece and the one that I just can’t get close to, but this year we’ve got close, so hopefully I can complete it.
“I’ve won leagues with the club and Mulherns but this is one I really want. I’d like it for myself and I’d like it for the club as well.”
2007 is the last time Town won a Junior Cup and 2009 is the last time they even got to the final. So, Wallace knows this season has the potential to be a special one if they can keep the winning momentum going under Ryan Hanna, who he credits with having brought a new mentality to the players;
“When we first found out that he was manager at the start of the year, he set up a team meeting and at the start of the year we set out goals for what we wanted to achieve and the Junior Cup was one of those goals.
“He has a plan and a way that he wants his teams to play and we all just bought into it and put trust in him, and its paid dividends really because we are still on for a treble and it is really down to him. He has built a really strong squad to be still challenging on all grounds.
“Everyone believes in the words that he’s saying. There’s very good man-management in him; he’d take them aside, let them know what’s going on,” explained Wallace.
“He can just get you up for a game. If something is not going right he’ll explain it and the next thing you’ve a fresh head and ready to go again.”
The Town winger, has picked off four goals en route to Friday’s final with Ardmore and while he admits there’s a mixture of nerves and excitement, he’s determined.
“For players there’s also the nervous side to it because you want to go out and perform at the same time.
“We’re not going to be thinking we’re going to go there and it’s going to be an easy game because it will be a battle,” he warned.
“But, If we go out and stick to our game plan and play our football, I don’t think we can be touched. But then, it’s cup football, you don’t know what you’re going to get really but I feel confident we can go out and get the job done.”
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