JOHN GERARD MCLAUGHLIN takes his nickname from the townland that houses Glengad United’s home pitch.
McLaughlin hails from the shadows of Glengad’s new development at The Crua, which opened in 2008.
At the start of this season, Shane Byrne handed the 26-year-old the captaincy of the club.
“It’s a massive honour,” he told Donegal Sport Hub after yesterday’s 3-2 win over Culdaff.
“I got the nod at the start of the year and it was one of the proudest moments of my life. Hopefully I can take them to many Cups now.
“This is what we play football for, these games. We’re hoping to clean up now.”
Glengad fell behind to a Paul McLaughlin strike after just 11 seconds, but Terence Doherty’s double and a third goal by Christy Fildara had the Inishowen League champions 3-1 ahead at half-time.
And yet they were still hanging on by their fingernails late in the game as Darren Mullarkey pegged a goal back for Culdaff.
McLaughlin said: “We were cruising at one stage, but we took the foot off the pedal and let a late one in. We put unnecessary pressure on ourselves.
“Culdaff came out of the blocks flying and it took a lot of character to get back into it.
“ We were cruising at that stage, but we took it for granted late in the game.
“There was a feeling that we were cruising, but you’ll get punished if you take the feet off the gas at this level.”
Listen to the full interview below …
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/john-gerard-mclaughlin-after-glengad-united-win-ulster-junior-cup
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