DENNIS McElhatton and his County Tyrone Premier side have a tough task if they are to emulate the success of last year's Premier side- who walked away with the Dunluce Trophy.
But after a demanding series of friendly matches, McElhatton is confident the class of 2009 can more than match their counterparts from last year.
The Premier side's management decided on senior opposition in their friendlies and they started off playing against a select side of ex-Tyrone Milk Cup players. It was a tough start for the Under 16s against an extremely talented Select side who ran out 2-0 winners.
Next up for the boys was the County Derry Foyle Cup team and this time, the Tyrone side recorded a 3-0 victory.
Two IFA Championship sides were the next opposition for Tyrone – first up being Dergview. In a high-scoring game, Dergview ran out 7-3 winners.
Tyrone went on to rectify the defensive mistakes from the Dergview game in their next fixture against Killymoon Rangers. Against a strong side looking to impress new manager Don Smyth, Tyrone ran out 5-1 winners.
A 4-1 win over Lifford Celtic followed and McElhatton is pleased with how preparations have gone.
"We wanted strong senior opposition for the boys as this provides tougher matches.
" I think it's important to test ourselves against physically stronger teams – it guards against complacency and gives the boys a taste of what they can expect in Milk Cup week.
"We've done really well in our warm up games – we've been scoring lots of goals – Dale Noble, Scott Sproule and Stefan Lavery have been potent in attack; and apart from the Degview game, we've been pretty tight at the back.
"We were dealt a big blow however when Niall Devine was ruled out through injury. We have called in Philip Wallace, who's a year young and has less experience at this level. But I'm sure he'll step up to the mark.
"Our target this year is to win the Slemish Trophy – which is the second highest trophy in the Milk Cup. Last year we won the Dunluce Trophy – which is the third tier – and I want to go one better this year.
"On Monday, we play Sheffield United in Portrush. I think the tight pitch at Parker Avenue will suit us – we beat Hartlepool there last year and I see no reason why we can't beat the Sheffield lads there this time around.
"We take on the American side South Coast Bayern on Tuesday at Ballymoney. This will be a really tough game as Bayern reached the Milk Cup final last year and we're playing at the Riada Stadium. The pitch there is huge and our boys will need to be full of running if we're going to get anything out of this game."
