Cockhill Celtic can’t afford to be complacent - Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty says no one at Cockhill Celtic believes they are over the line in regards to their ‘ten-in-a-row’ Ulster Senior League title ambitions.

Gavin Cullen’s side take on Derry City reserves on Thursday night at the Charlie O’Donnell Sports Grounds knowing that a win guarantees them the league title.

However, any slip up will bring rivals Bonagee United back into contention. A draw would mean the destination of the USL title would then have to be settled by a play-off while a loss to the Candystripes second string would result in the Dry Arch men being crowned champions.

Doherty has been part of each of the nine-in-a-row USL winning sides. With a cloud of uncertainty continuing to hang over the league’s future, Thursday night might well represent the opportunity for Cockhill to put an exclamation mark on what is an already amazing legacy.

“We definitely aren’t looking past Thursday,” said Doherty. “Complacency won’t be an issue. Derry always take a serious side with them. In terms of the squad they have, and the lads that aren’t making their first team, it’s top class.

“They’ll be looking to give players on the fringes or others coming back from injury competitive minutes. So we’re under no illusions. It’s in our own hands. And we’d always have settled for that.

“Bonagee are there breathing down our necks so it’s pretty obvious what we have to do. Our games again this season have been so close. They have so much quality as well. This has gone right down to the wire.

“With the good weather, hopefully we’ll get a good crowd there to support us. To be fair, our supporters have been amazing all season and Thursday night, I expect it to be no different”.