Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
From Balmoor to Baku...
Rohan relished Euro experience
An ex-Airdrieonians goalkeeper has traded in away days in Peterhead for a European adventure and glamour ties against Qarabag.
Former Diamond Rohan Ferguson earned his kid gloves at New Broomfield during his four-year stint at the club before signing for Motherwell in 2017.
After a spell back on loan at Airdrie, he left the Steelmen again this summer for Linfield, on another temporary deal.
The whirlwind experience has allowed the 21- year- old to experience the Northern Irish champions play-off dreams – which were ended with just seconds left on the clock last week against Azerbaijan outfit Qarabag.
Having pulled off a shock 3-2 win at Windsor Park, the home side scored early through Jaime Romero, and with two minutes left, Abdellah Zoubir sealed the win.
Shayne Lavery rifled home in injury time for Linfield, but it was only a consolation as Ferguson’s side crashed out on aggregate.
However, despite the heartbreaking defeat, Ferguson has loved having the chance to trade League One trips to Balmoor for Baku.
“It’s mad to think that a couple of years ago I was playing against Peterhead away, now I’m playing in Baku against Qarabag.
“It’s surreal and something I will be able to take forward with me for the rest of my career.
“Hopefully one day I’ll get to play at that level again but I will remember the game in Qarabag and at Windsor Park for the rest of my career.”
He went on: “It’s a brilliant experience, but we are gutted we came so close but didn’t make it.
“Obviously when I signed with Linfield I knew that they were in the Europa League, and I don’t wanted to disrespect the club because they are huge, but I didn’t expect to get a European run.
“I didn’t think that we would make it all the way to the play-off, but the boys did themselves proud.”
He went on: “We did think that we would be able to go over there and get a result.
“We were disappointed to lose the early goal, but after that 10 to 15 minutes we felt like we really came into the game. They get that second goal and that’s the one that really kills us because it comes so late.
“Up to that last 10 minutes we felt like we could have gone through, and that’s shown because we get the goal late on.
“I 100 per cent want to use this experience to look to winning the league.
“We have played at a good standard now and I want to use that experience for the rest of the season.”
He admits he has found it tough to displace Mark Gillespie and Trevor Carson at Fir Park, but is grateful to be handed the chance between the sticks at Linfield by manager and former Rangers striker David Healy.
“I came here on loan because I knew I was going to struggle to get into the first-team behind two experienced keepers with quality at Motherwell, to be honest.
“The manager here has been great with me and gave me a chance, and I think the trips away have really helped me become a part of the group.”
With a year left on his contract at the Steelmen, the young shotstopper still hopes to be in the plans for next season when he returns from his Northern Ireland spell.
“Hopefully I’ll do enough on this loan deal to show what I can do at Motherwell,” he added. “If not I’ll keep going and see where it takes me in the summer.”