Millburn crowned Doherty Cup winners after entertaining final

The Coleraine school came out on top against Leaney Primary infront of a packed house at Coleraine Showgrounds last Tuesday night.

A dominant first half display saw the boys in maroon race into a 3-0 lead.

To their credit the Leaney kept battling hard and were unlucky not to get something out of the game.

But in the end it was Millburn who held on to lift the famous old trophy.

The Coleraine side thought they had taken the lead inside the first two minutes as captain Jay Reilly headed home from a corner, but referee Tony Young chalked the goal off for a push in the build up.

Millburn didn’t have long to wait though as Alfy Matthews fired home from close range after some good build up by the Ruairi McClean’s side.

They had doubled their advantage on ten minutes as Lewis Tosh this time found the back of the net as he picked up the loose ball just outside the box before drilling home.

The heavens opened and the boys had to endure some torrential rain for the remainder of the first half.

They kept going though with both sides trying to get the ball down and play some neat football despite the horrendous conditions.

It was Millburn though who scored again four minutes before the break.

Leaney keeper Corey McNeill rushed out to block an effort from Daniel Greer, but the ball fell kindly to Tosh, who fired in his second of the game.

Just before half time McNeill did well to save a pile driver from Reilly to keep his side in the game.

A change of shirts from both teams and a change of conditions helped the players after the restart.

Millburn kept pushing to get the goals to kill off the game, but Leaney weren’t about to lie down.

The dug in and made life difficult for their opponents. Unfortunately for them though they couldn’t find a goal for themselves with Myles Reilly producing a great save to keep his side’s lead intact midway through the second half.

The final whistle was greeted with scenes of great joy from the Millburn players and supporters, but credit must go to the Leaney for the part they played in an entertaining final.

Also credit to all the players for the spirit in which the game was played.