Dean Shiels 'excited for the future' as young guns come up trumps in North West Senior Cup decider against Ballinamallard United

The Bannsiders lifted the trophy for a record-extending 23rd time in the club’s history after a 3-2 win against the Mallards in an entertaining affair at The Showgrounds.

After taking the lead through Sam McClintock’s 9th minute strike, Coleraine fell behind at the break as Richard Johnston and Joshua McIlwaine netted for Mark Stafford’s men.

However, Coleraine responded after the restart as McClintock bagged his second with a well-executed free-kick, before fellow teenager Tiernan Brolly swept home the winner with seven minutes remaining.

Shiels used the fixture to get some minutes into his several first-team stars such as Jamie McGonigle, Jack Scott and a debut for Patrick Burns, with the young guns also excelling in first-team duty.

"We are delighted and when you get to any final...it's about winning it,” the Coleraine chief said.

"I thought the young lads were excellent and we came out of the blocks pretty fast in regards to going 1-0 up.

"We had a penalty to go 2-0 up which would have maybe made the night a little bit easier.

"We actually then found ourselves behind and we had to react but the character the young players showed was brilliant and we're really proud of the group.

"We're proud of the youth coaches, the people at the youth set-up who have put a lot of work into these players and we saw the benefits from that tonight.

"The winning mentality they showed by really wanting to win the game is the mentality we are trying to create throughout the whole club.”

McClintock has been a regular goalscorer for the club’s U20 side and was promoted to the first-team squad ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Chances for the Newbuildings teenager have been limited due to the form of Matthew Shevlin – but Shiels admits his potential is one that excites him.

He explained: "People forget that Sam (McClintock) has just turned 17...he's got huge potential and the hardest thing in football is to score.

"It's so natural to Sam and his numbers and performances throughout the youths has been nothing short of clinical and he just knows where to be at the right time.

"His movement is good, his finishing is good and we've got massive hopes for Sam.

"He's in the full-time programme, he's developing all the time and we've brought him on recently at Windsor Park, as well as three or four other times.

"He's one that we're really looking forward to...but there were a lot of players out there.

"The young lad Charlie Patton whose father (Davy) played for the club started the game and was fantastic.

"Senan (Devine), Alfie (Gaston) and Aidan (Tejada)...that group is coming through and there's also Ben Hutton.

"We have to rely on our Academy to produce players and we have to be brave enough to play them.

"It's just about the timing of that. We have so much young, attacking talent coming through that it's exciting for the future.”