Institute trying to rob a victory as Lurgan Celtic the visitors to Drumahoe

by Orlagh Mullan

Paddy McLaughlin is expecting a tough game as Institute prepare for their first home game of the new Championship season on Saturday.

It follows on from a thrilling league opener that saw the Drumahoe outfit battle back after conceding an early goal and losing Darryl McDermott to a red card to snatch a victory over Dergview thanks to goals from Aaron Harkin and Ryan Morrow.

Now it is Lurgan Celtic who are the next challengers for McLaughlin and his troops, and after ‘Stute required late, late goals from Michael McCrudden and Alex Pomeroy in the same meeting last year, the manager knows it won’t be easy.

“There’s no games easy in this league and I think that that’s proven week in week out when you see results coming in,” McLaughlin told the Derry News.

“There’s always some surprises in there and teams picking up three points when you expected them to get beat and things like that so we aren’t taking anything for granted.”

Reflecting on that game in Castlederg at the weekend, McLaughlin agreed that his squad can take a lot of positives from the game – not just in the three points, but in the manner of the victory.

“A lot of good things came from the game in the end up. The first half performance was reasonable but I thought we were excellent in the second. When we went down to ten and already a goal down we had to show our character and our resilience to come back and that’s exactly what we did. We were up against it, and away from home too, so everything was against us being able to get a result, but credit to the boys,” he said.

“It was fantastic that we were able to get the three points. I think in weeks and months to come we will be saying ‘remember that opening night in Dergview’ when we’re maybe up against or we need a bit of inspiration.”

After a summer of pitch treatment, ‘Stute will play a match in their home ground for the first time since May, and the manager insisted that they must target good form at the Riverside if they want to challenge for silverware, and he hopes supporters will come out to help the cause.

“Home form is absolutely vital for any team that wants to do well, there’s no two ways about it. We want to make the Riverside a fortress and obviously a good run of form is vital to turning it into that.”

McLaughlin continued: “Three points on Saturday is what we’re targeting with another league and then a cup game coming up in Drumahoe. We want it to be somewhere that teams are intimidated by and we can do that by stamping our mark early on in these next few weeks – starting on Saturday.

“The supporters that came down to support us last Friday were fantastic. They were there in big numbers and in the end I think the trip was well worth it for them. The boys put in a shift for them. Hopefully we can get some numbers in the gate on Saturday and every week but I think it all comes down to results. The better they are, the more people respond to it. Having a crowd there can give the team a huge lift coming on to the pitch so definitely we’d hope to see them,” he added.

‘Stute have been bolstered this week by the news that former player Robbie Hume has returned to the club from Limavady United, joining Eamonn Seydak and Jamie Dunne on the list of ‘new’ faces coming back to their roots.

“I’ve worked with Robbie and with the other boys that have come in before, and that is a massive help,” McLaughlin admitted.

“We aren’t bringing players in for the sake of it. We want boys who have the same targets as us and who will show the same character as everyone else. It’s not about playing for yourself or your individual achievements, we want players with the right intentions. I feel that we’ve got that and we’re all moving in one direction. Robbie is a prolific and proven striker, you only have to look at his record last year scoring 42 goals for Limavady. No matter what league you’re in or who your opposition is, I’d challenge anyone to find a man with that record about because I haven’t seen or heard of them.”

Ryan Morrow came through a late fitness test to score the winner at Dergview a week ago, and McLaughlin is delighted to have a full hand to choose from heading into the second league game.

“There’s a lot of boys in there that just typify the way we play in terms of wanting to battling through wee knocks and niggles. They look after themselves well and obviously they aren’t going to play through major injuries, but if they can then they will fight for their place. Boys aren’t willing to give up their playing jersey because they’re so hungry to always be on that pitch. They just get on with it and we’re going into Saturday with a clean bill of health which is massive at this early stage of the season.”