‘Unbelievable’ debut for striker Stewart

And quite rightly so, for the 20-year-old had just achieved a childhood dream - scoring the winner for Coleraine.

The Portrush lad came off the bench to head the Bannsiders in to the third round of the League Cup after a difficult night against Loghgall.

Stewart admitted after the game he was made up just to be in the squad, but to score the winner was, in his words, ‘unbelievable’!

“I was delighted when Oran said I was in the panel, but to come on and make my debut, never mind scoring the winner, is unbelievable,” he told Times Sport.

“It was a great delivery into the box, I can’t actually remember who played it in, but it was perfect for me to get my head on.

“To see it go in was a great feeling, I’ll never forget it, scoring my first goal for Coleraine on my debut at The Showgrounds. I’ve always been a Coleraine fan and so have my family, so to score here tonight with them watching makes it all the more special, especially since it was the winner.

“Hopefully I can push on from this now, keep training hard and hopefully get more games under my belt. I scored 15 goals for the reserves and first team in pre-season, so I hope I can get a few more chances with the first team.”

Oran Kearney was thrilled for Stewart, and said he fully deserved his call up.

Johnny’s there on merit, he showed what he’s capable of with his goal, only a certain type of player can score those goals,” said Kearney.