Hometown hero Hughes targets more Larne glory
JEFF Hughes intends sticking around at Larne for a long time to win more trophies after scoring the decisive penalty which brought the club their first piece of top flight silverware for 33 years.
It was fitting that the 35-yearold had the honour of slotting in the crucial spot-kick in the shoot-out against Glentoran in the Toalsbet.com County Antrim Shield final.
He is, after all, the club captain, is from Larne and played in their previous final 15 years ago when Portadown thumped the Inver Park men 5-1 in the Irish Cup decider.
That was his last match for the club first time around before moving to Lincoln and enjoying a fine career across the water with the likes of Crystal Palace, Notts County, Bristol Rovers, Fleetwood and Tranmere. Hughes also won a couple of caps for Northern Ireland before returning home to Larne in 2018.
When the midfielder came off the bench against the Glens, it was evident that Larne’s build-up play had more zip and, come the big moment in the shoot-out, after Conor Devlin had saved from Jay Donnelly and Joe Crowe, Hughes was up to the task, having missed the last time he was put on the spot.
“All I was thinking was ‘please go in’; there wasn’t a lot going through my head at that stage,” said Hughes.
“I knew where I was putting it. The last penalty I took, I went top left and I missed for Fleetwood against Chesterfield. I was just making sure I hit the target, go low and hard.
“It was relief when it went in. I remember the 2005 Irish Cup final and how bad it felt watching Portadown lift the cup.
“I’ve obviously been over in England, but to lift a trophy for Larne is on a different level personally.
“It worked out nicely for me but I think Conor (Devlin) was the real hero. He saved two penalties and dug us out twice.”
Anyone who thinks the County Antrim Shield doesn’t matter in the great scheme of things with a league title and Irish Cup to win will receive short shrift from Hughes after Larne overcame Linfield, Crusaders and Glentoran to win the competition.
He said: “You look at the Blues and the Glens as the two biggest clubs in the country, and the Crues have been the third biggest team in the country in recent years, and we beat the three of them.
“For a ‘little’ trophy we had to beat the three biggest teams in the country, and that’s no easy feat.
“There’s a whole project at Larne. It’s not just about throwing a bit of money at players and trying to win a trophy or two.
“It’s a bigger, long-term vision and I hope to be a part of that for a long time.”
On Hughes, Larne boss Tiernan Lynch said: “I am a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason.
“I said to him when we were coming off after the match that when we talked to Jeff about coming back from England, the big thing was we wanted to try and win trophies and put ourselves at the top table, and this was a tribute to him and he got his reward for making the move.”