Oran Kearney: Beating Maribor is the proudest moment of my career

Oran Kearney said it was the proudest moment of his career as his Coleraine side dumped NK Maribor out of the Europa League.
By Steven Crawford
Published 28th Aug 2020, 10:27 BST
Updated 28th Aug 2020, 10:35 BST
Coleraine celebrate last night after a famous Europa League victory over Maribor in Slovenia (pic by David Cavan).Coleraine celebrate last night after a famous Europa League victory over Maribor in Slovenia (pic by David Cavan).
Coleraine celebrate last night after a famous Europa League victory over Maribor in Slovenia (pic by David Cavan).

The Bannsiders produced a stunning display in Slovenia as James McLaughlin fired them in front in the second half.

Even when they were pegged back minutes later they stuck to their game plan and took the game to extra-time and penalties with Ben Doherty scoring the decisive spot-kick to send Kearney’s men into the second qualifying round.

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“This is the reason why we all love football, it can be a magical game where an underdog can produce something special,” said the Bannsiders boss.

“Tonight will be a night that will live long with my players and myself, and it’s probably the proudest moment of my career.

"You come into a game like this with a game plan, and you have to have belief when you come to play games like this.

"But there was also some reality with our belief where we knew how tough tonight was going to be.

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“We had a plan and to be fair to the players they stuck to it fantastically well.

“I thought our game management from the players was really good throughout the 90 and in extra-time in particular.”

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Related topics:BannsidersColeraineEuropa LeagueBen Doherty