Alex Doherty hailed Glen Watty Graham's Ulster club senior football final victory over Kilcoo as the 'best moment of his football career’ after his goal helped the Derry side to their first ever provincial title.
In a rematch of last year’s semi-final Glen claimed a measure of revenge over reigning All-Ireland champions Kilcoo with a dominant display that saw them lead throughout as they claimed a 1-12 to 1-06 victory.
Doherty sealed an impressive performance with the game’s only goal late on, ensuring that his side march on to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Afterwards Doherty struggled to describe the depth of emotion that came with his club's first ever Ulster senior title.
"It’s probably the best day the club has had in its history, the first Ulster title," he told RTÉ Sport. "It’s unbelievable, I can’t even put it into words, it’s some buzz.
"Someone said to me we were leading the whole way through and it sort of felt like that, we way playing the better of the two teams.
"We know what Kilcoo are made of, they’re All-Ireland champions for a reason and it’s always going to be nip and tuck the whole way through.
"I thought we played class and in the second-half, really upped our level and finished it out strongly."
Reflecting on his goal, Doherty admitted that he didn’t actually see the ball cross the line as he had already turned away to celebrate.
"All I remember is Jack [Doherty] laying off to Conlath [McGuikian] and Conlath flicking it over the top and then I looked at the ‘keeper and he took a step back so I got it and went around him and I kicked it, I didn’t even look at it going into the net.
"At that point I knew the game was over and I just went nuts.
"It was euphoric almost, I think I must have roared five or six times – every direction into the crowd. It’s unbelievable, probably the best moment in my football career."
Emmet Bradley echoed Doherty’s reaction and paid tribute to everyone at the club, that helped to ensure that this day arrived.
"It’s absolutely unbelievable," he told RTÉ Sport. "I know it’s a cliché to say that but the work that went into arriving at this day. The players never gave up and everybody was rowing the right direction, the same as the club.
"When great people are involved, good things can happen and thankfully that’s what happened there.
"The boys just gave it everything and Kilcoo were always going to be difficult to break but we managed the game well in the second-half and thankfully were able to open them up a wee bit and peg away at the scores.
Bradley admitted that the Glen players will take time to savour their victory, but added that they’re they’re already looking ahead to the All-Ireland semi-final clash with Maigh Cuilinn.
"It’s a journey and we’ll continue," he said. "We’ll enjoy tonight but we’ll assess where we’re at moving forward in terms of who we’re playing at in the semi-final.
"Like any other game, we’ll prepare as best we can and if we’re good enough, we’ll beat them and if not, fair play."
