Wait proves worthwhile for United debutant Loughran

The 19-year-old was one of the plus points in Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Dungannon Swifts with an assured performance in the centre of defence.

But as the St Patrick’s College A-level student admits, he had plenty of time to prepare himself.

Unlike instances of a youngster being thrown into a game at the last minute, with no time to get nervous, Loughran had the best part of a week to ready himself for his senior bow.

“When I heard my name called out at training on Tuesday night, I thought it was just for a practice match with the first team but then the manager told us that would be the starting team for Saturday,” said Caolan, whose only previous appearance in United’s matchday squad was as an unused sub in the County Antrim Shield semi-final defeat at Crusaders.

“It helped me to know at that stage because I prepared right and ate right during the week and tried to focus.

“I had played the game over and over again in my head so many times before Saturday.

“I was really nervous going to bed on Friday night because the game was just going through my head but a couple of the more experienced players put their hand on my shoulder and I was OK.

“Davy Munster was a big help beside me - he kept talking to me and if I was out of position he brought me back in. He kept on encouraging me every time I did something good.

“The result didn’t go the right way but it was still a great exepeirence to make my debut for my hometown team,” said the Frys Road man.

Caolan also came close to marking his debut with a dream goal as his 30-yard free kick warmed the palms of Dungannon keeper Berraat Turker.

“I scored a free kick against Crusaders a few weeks back and Glenn had told me beforehand if I fancied it to have the confidence to go and strike it.

“He said it was a good performance by some of the young boys and said we would hopefully get some more experience before the end of the season,” added Loughran.