New dad Ben Doherty reaches Derry City century this week!

It has been quite the fortnight for Ben Doherty, who became a father for the first time on the cusp of his 100th appearance for Derry City.

Doherty, who made his debut under Kenny Shiels at Bray Wanderers in August, 2016, returned to the Brandywell earlier this year, and has been a regular for Ruaidhri Higgins ever since.

Will Patching and Michael Duffy aside, Doherty is the most efficient City player in the squad, contributing to 14 goals this term, scoring five and assisting nine. An unused substitute in the first game of the season at St. Patrick’s Athletic, Doherty has since become one of the most important players in the squad.

“I came into the club and I don’t think Ruaidhri had seen much of my versatility,” he said. “Even though I was playing in the Irish League, it was a move which came about off the back of nothing. I wanted to come in and test myself because I felt I had unfinished business for myself to come back and try and prove that point that I am good enough to play at this level and to test myself against the top players in the country.

“After that first game at St. Pat’s this year, I knuckled down, adapted to playing in a different position to nail it down and to play consistently with Mickey in front of me and building relationships with whoever plays on the left side of midfield. I think we have really excelled this year and hopefully now over pre-season and going into next year, we can get even better.”

Away from the pitch, Ben is set to be busy for the foreseeable future, after his partner Shannon gave birth to their first child, daughter Enya, last week.

“It’s been tough but it was the best day of my life,” he admitted. “I have a different outlook on life now and that’s just the way it is now because everything you do going forward is going to be for the child. It will keep me grounded. I’ll take a few weeks at home and enjoy that but then it’s time to get back to work then. Everyone around the club was very helpful and supportive and I’m eternally grateful for that.”

Work to do

Derry City still have work to do with two games to go, with a point needed to secure European football for the third successive season.

The 0-0 draw against Shelbourne last week was not ideal, but Derry’s fate remains in their own hands.

“We showed a different side to ourselves (against Shels),” Ben continued. “Maybe a few months ago, we couldn’t have had that character or resilience, but before the game we talked about what the European games have done for us this season, and how they have galvanised us as a group and that probably showed against Shelbourne.”

“I know what three points would have meant to everybody, because it would have secured European football for next year, but we kept Shelbourne at bay and results in the other games probably suited us. There are two games to go, one at home and one away to Cork so it’s in our hands now to get European football.”

Traditionally, there are some bizarre results come the end of a long and hard season, with aims achieved and players looking forward to the long post-season break, but Doherty doesn’t expect that from either team at Turners Cross this weekend.

“I don’t think the professionalism of this group can be questioned,” he said. “I’ve been in different changing rooms, and I’ve seen different clubs take the foot off the gas when they secure what they want. It’s completely in our hands now, and we’ll come back into training to prepare for Cork. It’s a chance for us to get three points and secure European football for the club.

“There’s a hungry group in the changing room, and we’re all striving for European football. It would be the third successive year at the club so it would be a massive achievement for everybody in the changing room so we’re looking forward to going down to Cork and trying to achieve that.”