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Belfast Live
Sport
Gareth Fullerton

The Ballymena boys celebrating title glory with different clubs

Coalan Loughran is planning a special photograph with good pal Leroy Millar.

The Ballymena boys grew up together playing football, and featured in the same Sky Blues side that lifted the League Cup back in 2017.

But it is with different clubs that the pair are celebrating their latest triumphs, Millar winning the Premiership with Larne, and Loughran helping Loughgall clinch the Championship title.

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Loughran - who joined the Villagers back in January - says he couldn't be prouder of his friend and former teammate.

"Leroy and I came up together at Ballymena. We have grown up together playing football," he said.

"We have always stayed in contact and it is great what he has achieved this season. I will have to get a photo of the two of us, him with the Gibson Cup and me with the Championship trophy.

"I think our dads would love that. They have been friends since Leroy and I have been playing football together since Under 11s."

Millar enjoyed an incredible debut season with Larne after making the move from the Showgrounds last summer.

Not only did he win the Premiership and County Antrim Shield, but on Saturday night he was named Player of the Year at the NI Football Awards.

"I have said it before, I think he is the best player in the league. He deserves to win player of the year," Loughran said.

"Larne have always been a fantastic team since Tiernan Lynch came in. But since the signing of Leroy they have become a complete team.

"They can play the attractive brand of football, and they can run teams into the ground. And Leroy has been outstanding for Larne."

One of Millar's key strengths is his fitness, with many teammates describing the midfielder as a 'machine'.

Loughran says he got an insight into the 27-year-old's engine during a pre-season training session the pair went on.

He said: "I was fit in pre-season, as fit as I could have been. I was running 5km in 18-and-a-half minutes and felt super fit.

"I went training with Leroy a couple of times and it was completely humbling. I felt fit but he was so far ahead of me.

"It's just how he eats, prepares, trains. He is the ultimate professional.

"There were times at Ballymena when we were two or three-nil down and he just kept running. He never stopped.

"That's the type of him and he keeps going and going. And he deserves everything he gets."

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