Harney turns the trick

Jamie Harney admits the significance of his hat-trick against Warrenpoint Town in January is only beginning to dawn on him.

The central defender scored his first goals for the Club as Cliftonville came through a mammoth Tennent’s Irish Cup Fifth Round showdown with a win that ultimately provided the first step towards this weekend’s Final – but he thought relatively little of his contribution at the time.

“I thought it was a bit of a joke, to be honest,” reveals Harney.

“People were having a laugh with me about scoring a hat-trick and that’s the way I saw it myself, but I never really thought about it in terms of where we’ve gone to since then.

“We’re one game away from doing something that will live in history and we’d absolutely love to deliver it for everyone at the Club.”

The former West Ham United youngster has enjoyed a fine debut season with the Reds after spending a year out of the game through injury and would take immense pride in ending his first campaign with the Club by getting the better of Coleraine in Saturday’s decider.

“It’s been a season of transition for the team but we’ve shown at times that we can step up and win big games,” adds the 22-year-old.

“The whole build-up to the Cup Final is brilliant and I think you’ve got to enjoy it. There’s no point in shying away from it because it’s a big occasion that everyone looks forward to.

“We’ve worked very hard to get ourselves into this position and we know we have to go out and hit those levels again if we’re to see it through.”