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Kier winner

The coronavirus lockdown affects us all in contrasting ways and different people will naturally develop varying coping mechanisms to help them through this challenging period.

Quite whether anybody has been impacted to the extent of Kieran O’Connor is, however, open to interpretation after the former midfield favourite skippered Cliftonville to Irish Cup glory in his back garden this week.

Just shy of 11 years on from suffering one North Belfast Derby defeat in the competition’s decider, the 38-year-old savoured glory in another as Crumlin Star – represented by sons Keagan (7) and Killian (4) – were put to the sword to end the Reds’ four-decades-long wait for Cup success.

The celebrations begin

Sporting the very jersey he wore in the 2009 Final, Kieran took firm control of proceedings from kick-off and produced a dominant display that left viewers in absolutely no doubt as to the destination of the trophy, which was graciously presented post-match by Cliftonville Academy talent Killian, while Keagan – who is on Star’s books – was controversially nowhere to be seen.

Videos of the action, reaction and celebrations have been doing the rounds on social media, with fans and former team-mates quick to offer their congratulations to the Reds’ latest medal-winning captain.

We trust Kieran’s wife Roisin is keeping well.

The pain of the 2009 decider has been banished for Kieran O’Connor