Gavin Cullen hails ‘outstanding’ Cockhill

Gavin Cullen described as ‘outstanding’ Cockhill Celtic’s reign of dominance in the Ulster Senior League.

A 5-0 win over Derry City Reserves on Sunday secured Cockhill an unprecedented ninth successive USL crown.

Cullen rejoined Cockhill as a goalkeeper from Coleraine in 2013 when Cockhill began their remarkable sequence.

“To do what we’ve done in the last nine years is unreal,” Cullen said.

“The level of consistency this group has had, to keep coming back with new groups of players, is amazing. To win nine-in-a-row is outstanding.

Watch: Goal from a corner then one from the centre circle in Donegal League

Jack Dwyer of Letterkenny Rovers and Stephen Doak from Glenree United both scored spectacular goals last Sunday

“I felt that the team was very good when I came back. I came back and felt that I could help them to win one league.”

Garbhan Friel netted twice while Corey McBride, Oisin McColgan and Peter Doherty netted at the Charlie O’Donnell Sports Ground on Sunday as Cockhill popped the champagne again.

Cullen said: “It’s a great feeling. It doesn’t dampen after winning all those titles. It’s a mighty relief after all the hard work we put in during the season. We’re delighted to achieve something at the end of it.

“We have seven or eight players who have won their first title. They have achieved something that they’ll always remember and it could be the start of many them now.

“To win one League at any club is great, but to win nine is just outstanding.”

Cullen took over from Donal O’Brien in 2015 and has been there all the way during the glory days. So, too, have Oisin McColgan, Mark Moran and Jimmy Bradley.

Last summer, Cullen went on his biggest recruitment drive yet and the likes of youngsters McBride, Jack Doherty and Fionn McClure have fitted seamlessly into the squad.

“We have good players,” Cullen said.

“We’re always looking and trying to improve. Our attitude to training and matches is outstanding. We know we’re the team to beat every season and that sets its own challenges.

“We look for honesty and commitment levels from our players. Anyone who doesn’t do that, then it doesn’t work out for them here. You can’t instil hunger in a player. It’s either in them or it isn’t.

“The players we sign are good lads and they buy into what we’re trying to do. We get that in abundance.

“On the whole, he brought in seven or eight players this season and it was the biggest turnover of players that we had. We have strength in depth and you need that over the course of a season.”

The addition of Monaghan United to the Ulster Senior League was an injection of positivity last summer, but the absence of more participants continues to be a talking point.

Cullen said: “If other clubs can’t challenge themselves, so be it. That might be as much down to a problem in society as a problem in sport. We can only do our best. The standard is very high in the Ulster Senior League.”