Glenavon teenager Luke McGerrigan will always remember his Premiership debut, scoring mere minutes after coming off the bench in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Ballymena United – and Colin Coates believes it’s “only the start for him”.

The Lurgan Blues have developed a reputation for handing their young stars senior opportunities with the likes of Chris Atherton, Harry Lynch, Paul McGovern and Ben Wilson all impressing this season, and 16-year-old McGerrigan is the latest to benefit with Paddy McLaughlin sending him on in the dying moments at Mourneview Park.

Glenavon took the lead through Peter Campbell, who then unselfishly laid the ball on a plate for McGerrigan’s memorable moment in stoppage time to end their seven-game winless league run.

McLaughlin had spoken previously about his desire to use Glenavon’s final league matches to give youth a chance with six players aged 21 or under starting on Saturday while another three – Atherton, Sean Carlin and McGerrigan – came off the bench.

placeholder image — Glenavon manager Paddy McLaughlin and assistant Colin Coates. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

Their season comes to a close at Carrick Rangers next weekend and Coates says McGerrigan deserved a maiden appearance after impressing in training.

“What a moment for him on his debut,” Coates told the club’s media channel. “To come on at 16 and get the goal which seals the three points, that’s fantastic for him.

"That’s only the start for him. He’s another of the 16-year-olds we have been watching in training and he has been superb and impressed all the coaching staff.

"He’s another one who will kick on and hopefully we can get him more minutes next week and through pre-season looking towards next season.”

It was also a memorable afternoon for defender Lynch with the 18-year-old handed captaincy duties and led his side to a clean sheet – their first since early-March – alongside Harry Murphy.

Northern Ireland youth international Lynch has struggled for consistent opportunity this term, making just 15 Premiership appearances, but has impressed when called upon, including scoring his maiden league goal in a 3-3 draw against Glentoran last month.

Coates praised how Lynch has been able to deal with setbacks and feels he’s playing with maturity beyond his years.

"We see a lot of Harry in training and how he goes about his business,” added Coates. “For an 18-year-old, how he deals with disappointment as much as anything – there have been times where he has been left out of the 11 and on one occasion he was left out of the squad.

"You can see his disappointment, but how he bounces back with his levels in training, he’s a real credit. I look back at myself at that age and I probably wouldn’t have reacted in the same way.

"He’s nearly a good pro at 18 and the way he plays, he defends with his heart on his sleeve and gives everything for the team.

"It might faze some players, but others will take it on, grow with it and up their level of performance, and Harry certainly did that.

"Sometimes you can forget they are so young – big Harry (Murphy) is only 20 and wee Harry (Lynch) is only 18 so they were a credit to themselves...the full-backs are 21 and 20 too so it must be the youngest back-four in the league at the minute.”