'Jackie' hoping for cup final glory as Coleraine take on Linfield this afternoon

Derry eyes will be on Windsor Park this week as Creggan youngster Ciaron Harkin strives for Irish Cup glory with Coleraine.

The 21-year old, formerly of Institute and Derry City, only joined the Bannsiders at the start of the season, but has become a firm favourite at the club since, popular with both fans, and manager Oran Kearney.

Just two years ago, Harkin was lifting the Derry City U19s to Foyle Cup glory, before lifting the Intermediate Cup with Institute last year. This Saturday, he hopes to have a new trophy in his possession.

“If we win the Irish Cup it definitely would be the best moment in my football,” he said. “All my family are making the trip to Belfast, there are buses going from Derry, so it will be a big day, not just myself but all my family. There will be a bit of pressure on me because of that, but it will be a good day out for everyone and I’m looking forward to it.”

Coleraine made it to this year’s final with a dramatic last minute victory over Glenavon. On such moments cup memories are made, and Harkin admitted it was his best moment in a Coleraine shirt…so far.

“What a match it was,” he recalled. “We were 1-0 up but after we scored that’s when we started to play our worst and then they got an equaliser and anything could have happened then. “Thankfully for us we scored an 89th minute goal, with a bit of luck and that’s us now into the final and I can’t wait for it.”

Harkin has absolutely no regrets about leaving Institute at the start of the year to join Coleraine. Coleraine boss Kearney was not shy in expressing his admiration for the midfielder and after failing in his first attempt, came back, determined to sign his man.

“That just showed how much the man wanted me,” Harkin said. “He obviously liked me as a player and it’s good to have that in the head as well that the manager who wants you does like you as a player, so I just decided to go.

“I knew where I wanted to be and that was the Premiership; I wanted to play at the highest level, that’s where you want to be playing week in, week out, against all the big teams.

“I had a chance to go to Coleraine in the summer but I decided to stay at Institute, as we really wanted to try and win the league and get promotion, but then it wasn’t looking like we were going to win the league, so as soon as I got a second chance to sign for Coleraine I was never going to turn it down.”

Harkin’s time at ‘Stute was not wasted in any sense, the youngster given the chance to play senior football by Kevin Deery. It was a chance he took with both hands, playing his part in some memorable games for the Drumahoe club, particularly the Intermediate Cup final win over Ards, at Windsor Park.

“Having the taste of it playing at Crusaders in the League Cup with Institute, then playing Warrenpoint and Ballinamallard in the playoff, they were the hardest games to play in and they had the most build up to them and every game has been like that every week with Coleraine,” he explained.

“When I signed for Coleraine we were fifth now the season has ended and finished third and are in Europe, so I couldn’t have asked for anything more, but the Irish Cup Final are the games you want to be playing in, you want that pressure that’s what football is about.

“There’s no point playing football if they don’t mean anything, these are the matches that you want to be playing in.”

Unbeaten run

Harkin’s arrival at Coleraine coincided with a terrific run of form by the Bannsiders. In fact, Harkin went without defeat in his first 15 league games with his newest team, with a run of 13 wins and two draws helping Coleraine to ultimately finish third and qualify for European football next season.

“European football for next season, that was the one thing we were looking to make sure was secured before going into the cup final and not relying on having to win the cup final to get into Europe,” he explained. “So, we had a great end to the season finishing third and looking forward to the final and then Europa League football next season.”

One of the few defeats Harkin has suffered with Coleraine came at the hands of this weekend’s cup final opponents Linfield, a 5-1 hammering just last month. That result, he insists, will have no bearing on Saturday’s game at Windsor.

“We had a bad result against them a few weeks ago, but that really doesn’t matter,” he said. “Yes 5-1 doesn’t look good, but that won’t be the way the final is going to be like. Everyone is just looking to the final and if you take out the 5-1 defeat, we have had a good record against Linfield this season, so we know what we can do against them and we know what way we are going to play against them.”

The Creggan man was a key part of a successful Derry City youth team which also included the likes of Ben Doherty, Nathan Boyle, Ronan Curtis and Josh Daniels. His path to the Irish Cup final started with Derry, went through Institute and continues on at Coleraine. Silverware has followed him throughout his career so far. It’s a nice habit to get into.

“That U19 side was a good team and training with the first team was good,” he acknowledged. “Obviously my aim was to try and get into the first team but it just came to the stage I felt it was the right time for me to get out and get more senior games under my belt and I made the choice to go to Institute.

“That move did me no harm at all, in fact it was a great decision because playing well there got me this move to Coleraine, which means I’m progressing again as I’m now playing in the Premiership and have had a lot of big games already.”