‘Keeper of the faith Harry Doherty balances the books

Harry Doherty twice felt the pang of football’s rejection and admits the experience could’ve turned him away from the game.

The goalkeeper had spells on the books of Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion as a teenager.

Doherty is 27 now and is working with MLMG Accountants in Buncrana, while completing his studies alongside his job.

He still dons the gloves and will keep goal for Cockhill Celtic in this Sunday’s FAI Intermediate Cup final against Rockmount at The Showgrounds.

“I’m studying and learning and still playing football so it’s the best case scenario for me,” Doherty says.

Cockhill ‘buzzing’ with Cup fever: Peter Doherty

Cockhill Celtic face Rockmount of Cork in Sunday's FAI Intermediate Cup final at The Showgrounds in Sligo.

“One of my big regrets would not be pushing on more with the education side when I was younger. I probably should’ve worked more, but hindsight is brilliant. When you’re young, you’re just excited to play football and you don’t think about anything else. I would definitely say, though, to any young player: Have your education in the background.

“So many lads drift away from the game and I can see why. I had a few times where I’d lost the love for football and I started playing a bit of Gaelic.

“When you stop enjoying it, it can feel like a chore, but Gavin (Cullen, Cockhill manager) has been brilliant here. The dressing room at Cockhill made it easier to come back playing and actually back enjoying football again.”

Doherty began his schoolboys football at Cockhill and initially played outfield. That was until Kevin O’Donnell had a brainwave, moving Jonathan Doherty from goalkeeper to striker and Harry Doherty into goal from right-back. If there were any questions whether O’Donnell had taken leave of his senses, Jonathan Doherty netted a hat-trick and Harry Doherty advanced to the Republic of Ireland underage ranks.

Charlton came calling and Doherty was soon moving to south-east London.

“Charlton was a massive move for me,” Doherty says.

“ It was a big thing at the time because there weren’t many players getting across the water. It was huge for Cockhill and for myself. It was a whole different lifestyle, football day-in and day-out. It took a lot of time to adapt, but I loved my time there. I was on a scholarship and didn’t kept kept on. That’s just football.”

Doherty was picked up by Brighton and spent two years at The Seagulls.

There, he was a professional footballer.

“That was completely different,” he says. At Charlton, I was on a scholarship so I was doing jobs like cleaning boots and looking after the first team. On the ladder of football, it’s the bottom.

“At Brighton, I was a proper professional footballer. We were in at 9 o’clock to train, go to the gym and was home by 1.30pm. I was there for two years and I learned a lot from that, especially the professional standards.”

Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez was at Charlton at the same time as Doherty and graduated to the Addicks’ first team before bagging a move to Anfield.

“Technically, he was amazing at that age,” Doherty recalls.

Kasey Palmer, who earned a contract at Chelsea and is now of Coventry City, was another at Charlton and Diego Poyet, the son of Gus went on to play first team football at Charlton, West Ham and MK Dons.

Doherty rejoined Cockhill on his return home and has also had spells at Finn Harps, Carrick Rangers, Crusaders and Portadown. Last summer, he penned the dotted line with Cockhill again and has been a key figure in the surge to the Intermediate Cup final.

“I think our set up is among the best in the country,” he says. It really shows how hard working the club is.

“We have done this the hard way. We know Rockmount will be favourites, but we want to show that we’re here on merit. I think the last few games have showed that we can compete. We’ve showed our character and desire in the last few weeks.

“We’ve a serious intensity to the work we do. Our small-sided games are ferocious sometimes. We have high intensity training and boys demand the best from each other. That transfers into our games.”