Doherty feeling at home

colerainefc.com caught up with Ben Doherty to reflect on his few first months with the Bannsiders…

The midfielder put pen-to-paper on a two-and-a-half year deal at the start of the January transfer window and has impressed since his arrival from Derry City.

The 21-year-old has made 10 appearances, scoring three goals in the process and he spoke to Jonathan McNabb about how things are going at The Showgrounds.

Q1. Well Ben, you have been at Coleraine for around two months now. How do you feel you’ve settled in?

I feel like I’ve settled in well and it has been made easier by the group of lads who were already here.

From the kitmen, to the players and management team, everyone gets on and it has helped me to settle in a lot quicker.

Q2. You have played a few positions already during your time here but do you feel your game is best suited to central midfield?

All my senior appearances up until this season were at left back and it’s a position that I became familiar with, but I have always been a left midfielder or a central midfielder.

I got my chance to play there firstly at Glenavon and now at Coleraine and I prefer to be more attacking as I get a lot more out of myself and it suits my attributes a lot better.

Q3. A lot has been made about the strong team spirit and bond at The Showgrounds – is this something you have quickly experienced?

The team bond and spirit was visible on Friday night against Larne.

The character we showed as a group and even at the final whistle demonstrated that everyone was delighted for each other, even the lads who were unfortunate not to play showed immense support throughout.

At the end with the fans I think shows how we have a good bond with them as well, and even though I haven’t been here very long, the fans have took to me and I can’t thank them enough for that because they have made it a lot easier for me.

Q4. You have scored three goals so far but which one has been your favourite?

This year I’ve added a lot more goals to my game and I enjoy the buzz of scoring goals.

For me, the most important goal was my strike against Dergview after three minutes because there was a talk of them getting a new manager and hitting a bit of form.

The media were saying it would be a tough game for us – which it was – but I think an early goal in that game allowed us to play and progress to the next round.

Q5. Has your father Eamonn been to watch you yet?

My dad has been to all the home games as he enjoys coming to watch the matches.

He would be my biggest critic but he’s happy with things are going for me so far.

Q6. What are your personal aims between now and the end of the season?

For me personally I would like to win silverware like every player would and getting into the Irish Cup final would give us a great chance of doing that.

I would also like to add to my personal stats for the season, I’d like to reach double figures for goals, I currently have six, so I’m not too far away.