I’VE MADE A POINT HERE

Milltown move’s been great for John

FORMER Glentoran player John Mcguigan has paid tribute to Championship winners Warrenpoint Town for kick-starting his career.

the games both times – there’s great character and fight in this team.” There was a special mention for manager Matthew Tipton who joined the club last summer in a coaching role before replacing the outgoing boss Barry Gray in November. “Matthew’s a great coach and has done a great job since coming in, I get on well with him but maybe that’s just because I’ve been scoring goals,” Mcguigan laughed. “He’s got the best not only out of me, but from a lot of the other players and every single player here wants to play for him and the club. “You only need to look at the results he’s enjoyed since coming in, he’s added a few players to strengthen us and brought young players through. “With Darren Murray and Alan Blayney both coming in it shows the attraction of the club and there’ll be more to follow I’d imagine. The tempo in training has been fantastic and there have been boys from other clubs coming down and joining in some nights as it’s so worthwhile.” Warrenpoint finish their campaign with a trip to Loughgall on Saturday, with a 3pm start. on Saturday was a 40 yarder, which is something of a first for me,” he joked “Recent results haven’t been going our way and we’ve maybe let our standards slip slightly since winning the league, but we wanted to ensure that we went out at Milltown this season with a win, especially when lifting the trophy.” The cruel nature of Warrenpoint’s relegation last year brought great sympathy to the club from many neutrals, but the attacking midfielder believes the events a year ago have made them stronger. “After everything that went on at the end of last season, this title feels like justice for us,” he continued. “It’s a great family-knit club here and we’ve grown a lot in the past twelve months, the squad now probably has a stronger mentality and more strength in depth too. “I was at the club last season before I went away for travelling, but we conceded late on quite a bit last season and let our heads drop too easily sometimes and I don’t think that’s the case anymore. “We’ve gone two goals down against Dergview and against Institute but we came back to win The 23-year-old joined the County Down side from the Glens in 2015 and has grown into an influential star at Milltown, establishing himself in the title winning side. “Playing for Warrenpoint has been absolutely fantastic for me,” Mcguigan explained. “I can’t thank the club enough for helping me kickstart my career and for getting everything back on track after I had a tough time at Glentoran. “I started the season with the aim of scoring ten goals, so when I reached that I reset the target to 15 then again to 20. “I’d beeen stuck on 17 for quite a while before Saturday so I told the manager to give me as many minutes as possible, but I might just fall short unfortunately. “In all honesty on Saturday I could have scored one or two more but ultimately you can’t be disappointed with a 4-1 win and getting on the scoresheet.” Mcguigan opened the scoring during Saturday’s 4-1 win over Dergview, the side’s final home game of the campaign. “My goal

JOHN HIS WAY UP Mcguigan has set and achieved his goalscoring targets so far, firing Warrenpoint to the Championship