Shaun Doherty has endured plenty of turbulence since first joining Institute two years ago but he is excited about what the future holds for the club.
The midfielder initially joined Stute on a loan deal in January 2020 but within a matter of weeks, Covid paralysed Northern Irish football and the North-West club were relegated after the season was cut short.
The cancellation of the Championship the following season endured a mass exodus from Stute’s squad but Doherty made his switch from Finn Harps permanent and has played a key role under boss Brian Donaghey who was appointed early this season.
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Doherty, 28, has committed his future to the club who have endured their fair share of misfortune since their Riverside stadium was devastated by floods in 2017 and who have spent this season trying to steer clear of a relegation battle.
Now Stute have won three successive matches and moved six points clear of the bottom two, with Doherty telling Match on Tuesday: “I am definitely sticking with the club as I know what way this club is going.
“It has been a strange time – we were relegated after just going bottom the week before Covid struck and there was a lot of bad luck.
“We were ready to start the Championship season in 2020 and had a strong squad of players assembled, but then the season was cancelled so most of them decided to move on.
“Brian only was appointed late in summer and only had a few days to make signings then, so he only really had January to bolster the squad and you can see the difference that has made.
“It feels really positive because we are at the start of something exciting – but we need to get over the line in terms of staying up this season and keep up our run of results.”
Stute have been transformed under Donaghey this season, with over half a dozen players recruited in the January transfer window to bolster an inexperienced squad.
Having failed to win back-to-back matches since September, they have now secured three victories on the bounce and have momentum to avoid a potential relegation playoff tie.
“It took us a little bit of time to find the right formation and balance of personnel on the pitch,” explained Doherty.
“There is now a system in place that is getting the best out of the players on the pitch and with Ian Parkhill and Gareth Brown up front, we now have a big goal threat who work really well together.
“When you have so many players coming in during January it just takes a little bit of time for things to sell – Mark McFadden is on loan from Derry and he started off in the middle, but he has been flying since being moved out wide.
“Mark and Ian have hit the ground running since coming in and add such a goal threat for us, which combined with the goals Benny (Brendan McLaughlin) is scoring is a real boost.
“This run of form has arrived at the perfect time for us but generally the last six or seven performances have been a big improvement.”
The January transfer window has transformed Stute and given them a platform to push up the standings.
“At the start of the season there were only two players with Championship experience and even that was quite low,” added Doherty.
“There was very little Premiership experience either – this was a very young squad with players who did not have a background at this level, so it was a difficult situation.
“Throughout the season we just have not had enough goals – there was a lot of expectation on Benny, but now we have two or three others who are scoring regularly too.
“All of the new boys have really chipped in and have settled really quickly – all these late goals show there is a bit of character in this group.
“There was never a bad atmosphere in the group and we always believed we would be able to overcome this situation, but Brian and (assistant) Aidy (McLaughlin) have transformed the club and deserve a lot of credit.”
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