LEAGUE CUP FINAL: Winner’s medal the perfect present for birthday boy Lyndon Kane

Lyndon Kane celebrating on Saturday. Pic by Pacemaker.

The 23-year-old proved the fan on the field during the post-match celebrations following an assured on-pitch performance which he considered another step forward in his development.

“It means everything to me, growing up a Coleraine fan, to come away with a winner’s medal,” said Kane. “We won the Irish Cup in 2018 but I picked up an injury a few weeks before the final so never got to play.

“The celebrations were great then but I had no medal to show for it.

“Stephen O’Donnell told me before we went up he wanted me to lift the trophy with him, so that was amazing for me as a boyhood fan and I’ve got to thank him.

“Today is another stepping stone, these games are massive and even semi-finals set you up for occasions like this match.

“Oran Kearney has taught me a lot over the years and maybe in the past I would have been naive.

“Going into the final three years ago against Linfield I don’t remember touching the ball.

“We knew Crusaders play 4-3-3 so we felt if we could stop Paul Heatley and Jamie McGonigle in the wide positions then we had players in the final third to go and win the game.

“I think we managed the game quite well overall as back four and midfield block, plus the front men.

“Last year didn’t work out but we never doubted the ability in the changing room.

“With Oran coming back (last summer), he knew a lot of the players and how they worked and we knew how he worked.

“We knew if we grafted together we could get back to where we were two seasons ago before he left.

“Games like tonight are unbelievable and I loved it.”

Jamie Glackin swapped Crusaders for Coleraine last January with a belief he could add to his medal collection with the Bannsiders.

“People laughed when I said I was here to win trophies,” said Glackin. “Maybe some doubted me for making a move away from Crusaders but Oran has shown great faith in me.

“The supporters were the ‘12th man’ and even at 1-0 down you could still hear them in the background.

“A cup final is a big game, televised and in front of a big crowd with the chance to get a winner’s medal at the end.

“But I try to treat every game the same, as another 90 minutes.

“We’ve played each other three times before in the league this season, we know what Crusaders are about and they know what are about.

“So it came down to the day.”