WATCH: 'Daddy, if you score you have to come over to us' - Veteran Irish League defender gets to celebrate landmark goal with his son
Veteran Irish League defender Stephen O’Donnell had a special young fan club cheering his milestone moment on Friday with Limavady United.
The 34-year-old centre-back’s first goal since a summer switch to newly-promoted Limavady secured three points over Cliftonville in a well-earned fightback 2-1 win.
And O’Donnell got to enjoy the moment in front of his son and friends – plus make good on a pre-match promise.
"Brilliant - I coach my wee boy's team and his team was up tonight as mascots before the game,” said O’Donnell on BBC Sport NI after the match. "He said to me on the road on the way up ‘Daddy, if you score you have to come over to us’.
"So it was nice, the game was sitting perfect at one each and we got a corner.
"I was thinking 'surely one of these is going to come to me'.
"Thankfully it did and it went in so I was able to go and celebrate with him and the team.
"It was great for me...a nice moment."
It capped a comeback success to get Limavady – last season’s second-tier Championship champions – back on track with a first Premiership win since October 10.
Rory Hale put Cliftonville in front with a superb long-range strike early on over goalkeeper Martin Gallagher from distance.
The in-form John Butcher levelled play moments later for Limavady.
O’Donnell made his mark with a big goal on his big night by heading home Lewis Tosh’s corner-kick delivery.
Limavady sit five points clear of the drop zone featuring Bangor and basement-based Portadown, with Cliftonville’s three-game winning league run now over.
LIMAVADY UNITED: Martin Gallagher, Kieran Farren, Aaron Jarvis, Philip Lowry, Stephen Lowry, John Butcher, Lewis Tosh, Stephen O'Donnell, Ruairi Boorman, Daniel Lafferty, Ronan Wilson. Subs: Callum Browne, Jay Riley, Oisin Duffy, Alfie Gaston, Adam Mullan, Luke Fleming, Leon Boyd
CLIFTONVILLE: Peter Morrison, Aaron Wightman, Rhyss Campbell, Rory Hale, Brian Healy, Shaun Leppard, Luke Conlan, Dean McMaster Alex Bannon, Liam McStravick, Joe Sheridan. Subs: Jacob Cremen-Cowan, Harry Wilson, Ryan Curran, Kyle McClelland, Joel Thompson, Joe Gormley, Ryan Corrigan