Ardmore manager Feidhlim O'Neill says Junior Cup win a tribute to work of club legends

The Ardmore manager paid tribute to the tireless work done down through the years by club stalwarts like Dave and George Higgins, Mickey Quinn and the late, great Paddy McLaughlin who sadly passed away in September 2024. Paddy’s passing came just as his beloved club were setting out on a journey that would end with Ardmore finally lifting a trophy the club has been chasing since its creation back in 1978. Indeed Ardmore’s thrilling win made them the first Derry club to become Junior Cup champions since Churchill United in the ’60s.

It was fitting then that alongside O'Neill in the Ardmore dug-out in Windsor Park on Friday sat Paddy's grandson, Kieran, for a night no one at the club will ever forget.

"I just hope my GP doesn't check my blood pressure this week," laughed O'Neill after his team's penalty shoot-out victory over favourites Enniskillen Town United, "He told me I need to relax a bit but I didn't mentioned I was a football coach!

"Look, this is massive and there’s a few men that need mentioned like Dave Higgins, a founding member of the club. There are a lot of people need mentioned in fact and I’m probably going to miss a few of them so I apologise for that, but Dave and his brother, George, they’ve been involved with the club since 1978.

"Between looking after the pitch and playing, to be honest there would be no Ardmore Football Club without men like that.

“There have been some who have passed; Paddy McLaughlin is another man. We lost him around the first round of the Irish Junior Cup when our game was postponed. He was another massive club man and his grandson, Kieran, was on the bench with me tonight as a coach.

"We’re a close knit club and close knit community and maybe Paddy made the difference up there (pointing sky wards). He’s another man I just wish could have been here tonight because he was another founding member and it would have meant the world to him. Maybe he made the difference for us tonight."

An Ardmore native himself, O'Neill has been both player and coach at his home club and having stood on the sidelines as a wide-eyed six year old during the club's last Junior Cup semi-final in 1995, Friday's victory capped a fairy-tale first season in charge of the first team for the 36-year-old.

"My aunt Jean (Boyd) is in for a busy weekend at McCourt's," he smiled, "This is massive for everyone. We’ve dreamed about it for years. Winning the Irish Junior Cup has always been an ambition and we made that ambition a reality tonight. I couldn’t be any prouder of all my men. It’s them who've done it. It’s not me, it’s them.

“Any other group I might have doubted them, but not this one. Even at 2-0 down when I'd say 99 per cent of the crowd were feeling it was going to be a bad day for us but, no, never write this bunch of boys off.

"I told the boys at half-time to believe. I told them that I couldn’t believe in them any more and that they could do it. We calmed down and chilled, relaxed a bit. There was no shouting and roaring, nothing like that. We got into a huddle before we went back out and said, ‘this is make or break time: let’s go and do it’ and thankfully they did."

Conceding after 15 seconds of the first half, then again within seven minutes of the restart before being pegged back when in front in extra-time might have broken lesser sides and O'Neill admitted Enniskillen's third goal had him wondering if the fates were conspiring against him. However the Ardmore manager said he was always confident with the players he had on the bench, including match winner Ryan Cleere, that his team could change the game if required.

"I talked about it after the semi-final, that the subs we had on the bench are good enough to start in our team," he explained, "It's been a busy week but the hardest part was making 20 men 16 (for the matchday squad). Thankfully it worked out and every one who came on played their part. In fact even the boys who didn’t feature, they played their part throughout the season so, yeah, I’m absolutely delighted for the boys.

"I made the changes but it was all down to the players. I knew the boys coming in were going to change the game. When we conceded the third goal I did start to wonder if this wasn't going to be our night but it worked out and that's all that matters.

"To bring the Irish Junior Cup back to the north west for the first time since 1960 is massive and as an Ardmore man, I’m not going to lie, I'm buzzing it’s me that has brought it back.

"This is fairy-tale stuff and you never know, they might even give me another year at it now," he smiled.