East Belfast captain Lee Finlay could not ask for more after Steel and Sons Cup win

A brace from forward Stephen Cockcroft and a second half strike from Danny McKee handed Finlay’s team a 3-0 win in a dominant performance at Seaview to take home the trophy.

And centre-back Finlay is adamant that more days like it will follow for the club, who won back the title for the first time since 1992.

“We have to push on and make sure we keep reaching games like that,” said Finlay.

“I know the way the club’s going, it might be my last Steel and Sons Cup final but it won’t be the club’s.

We didn’t get here by luck, we got here on merit. Every round we played, we were the better team, we were the dominant team.

“We didn’t get a lucky decision to get through, we didn’t need extra time or penalties, we did it in the 90 minutes every time.

“We’re here on merit and we won on merit, nobody can take that away from us.

“Sometimes the luckiest team wins the cup but I believe we were the best team and we won it because of that.”

And Finlay couldn’t hide his joy at being able to raise the trophy aloft alongside his close friends for his hometown team, making it a very happy Christmas indeed.

“For three years I’ve been dreaming about this! I haven’t slept all week!” laughed the defender.

“It means everything, it’s a dream. I’m a local boy from east Belfast, playing for my local club, captaining them and lifting the trophy in front our fans, who were massive today, and with a bunch of my mates. I couldn’t ask for more.”