Century man Matthew Shevlin praises team-mates after hitting landmark figure for Coleraine
Matthew Shevlin wrote himself into the history books at Coleraine on Tuesday night as he became only the 12th player in the club’s history to hit the three-figure mark in terms of goals.
The marksman notched his Coleraine career up to 100 goals as he netted in Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw against Linfield on the Ballycastle Road.
Shevlin – who joined Coleraine under Oran Kearney’s management in January 2021 – has managed to achieve the feat in an impressive 193 appearances in all competitions.
Furthermore, the former Linfield and Ballymena United ace has scored against 20 different teams during his tenure as a Coleraine player.
Whilst being understandably delighted at his personal achievement, Shevlin was quick to thank his team-mates both past and present for their assistance.
“To be honest when I joined the club from having not much game time at Linfield, I didn't really see how it's panned out, to be honest,” he added.
"But after my first full season, I think I scored 22 goals, then that gave me the belief to think that I can go on and do big things for the club and in the league.
"I think, so far, I've been able to keep backing that up. Obviously, I need to mention all the teammates and players that have created chances for me and assisted me.
"I wouldn't be sitting here having scored 100 goals without them. I think that we've always created a lot of chances and that's amazing for a striker.”
The legendary Dessie Dickson leads the Bannsiders’ goalscoring charts on a remarkable 452, with Fay Coyle in second on 241.
Shevlin, who is 26-year-old, is close to catching up to several others and cement his place in the top-ten.
But the two-time Golden Boot winner is solely concentrating on helping Coleraine win games of football.
"Yeah, it would be an achievement but not that I'll be thinking about that every week,” he explained.
"Since I've got the 100 now, it’s a bit of a monkey off my back. I'm happy that I've reached it now and can really kick on and add to what's been a good start to the season for myself and the club.
"It probably played on my mind a little bit in the Dungannon game straight after the Ballymena game when I'd scored the two to reach 98 goals.
"But then after I didn't score in that Dungannon game I said ‘forget about it now and it'll happen when it happens’.
"Thankfully, the last two games, I've been able to add two goals.”
Shevlin’s near four-year stay at The Showgrounds has been somewhat of a rollercoaster as there have been near-misses in cup finals, as well as transitioning into a full-time footballer thanks to the investment from Henry Ross.
Coleraine’s new status has allowed them to attract high-quality players such as Joel Cooper and Will Patching to the north coast – much to Shevlin’s satisfaction.
He stressed: “To be fair, when we were part-time, I felt like we were always underachieving with the quality we had.
"We always had, obviously, Jamie Glackin, who's an amazing player. He's always created a lot of chances for me.
"We've had other players in the part-time model, where they were all very good players as well.
"But since we've gone full-time, you just know that whoever gets the ball can pick you out at any time, and you just need to be ready for it.”
It is fair to say that Shevlin’s eye for goal has bailed Coleraine out on many occasions during his time at the club.
However, with the attacking talent currently at The Showgrounds, Shevlin knows that others can now share the load.
“Obviously every striker has their off days and spells where they're not scoring,” he continued.
“In previous seasons where I haven't been on my game or had a couple of games without a goal, we maybe have struggled to get the points or get wins whenever we probably should have won the game.
"It's good this season that we have goals from all over the park. Patch (Will Patching) has chipped in with four already from midfield, Coops (Joel Cooper) is playing all over the place but he's scoring regularly, so yes, it’s good to have goals all over your team.”
And does Shevlin admire any of his peers?
He replied: “Yeah, well the obvious one is Joe Gormley. I've always had a lot of respect for him.
"His consistency is unbelievable and any time I've actually got to speak to him, he's been very encouraging and he's a really nice lad as well.”