Dream Anfield trip turns into nightmare for Co Down boy before family friends saved day

A young boy from Co Down had a dream come true on Monday when he was able to watch his beloved Liverpool play at Anfield.

10-year-old Luis Curran, who hails from the town of Portaferry, headed over to Merseyside along with his father Garrett on the overnight boat and were set to collect a pair of pre-booked tickets just before kick-off.

However, with the atmosphere outside the stadium building up prior to Liverpool taking on local rivals Everton, the father-son pair were left despondent after their ticket vendor let them down, suddenly turning their dream trip into a nightmare.

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This was the case until family friends Paul Milligan and Kevin Doherty, who were also at the stadium to watch the match, happened to walk by and save the day. The familiar faces kindly gave up their tickets when they saw how upset Luis was about not getting to see the game.

Luis and Garrett at Anfield (Janet Curran)

Mum Janet told Belfast Live: "We can't thank Paul and Kevin enough. It was a wonderful gesture and it made Luis' night.

"Luis has always dreamed of going to Anfield to watch Liverpool. It was the main present he asked Santa for, and we managed to get two tickets sorted for the Everton game.

"They were bought and paid for last November, but Luis and Garrett were left standing outside Anfield waiting for tickets that never arrived.

"Luis was sitting on the pavement in tears, and it was a bitterly cold night. Garrett didn't know what they were going to do."

Janet added that Luis even got to meet one of his Reds heroes before the Merseyside derby kicked off.

"Luis got a photo with Jordan Henderson earlier in the day. He was made up about that," she said.

"I suppose everything ended well in the end, but we are so grateful to Paul and Kevin helping out the way they did."

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