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Derry school win cup final for team-mate, 16, battling leukaemia

Joe McColgan, 16, was on the sidelines as St Columb’s College of Derry won the Vauxhall Senior Cup yesterday.

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Video Credit: Jerome Quinn Media (@JeromeQuinn)

A DERRY SCHOOL dedicated their emotional cup final win to a young team-mate battling leukaemia.

Joe McColgan, 16, was regular for St Columb’s College before his cancer diagnosis three weeks ago.

The young footballer was allowed out of hospital for yesterday’s Vauxhall Senior Cup final and watched from the sidelines as his team-mates beat St Malachy’s College 2-0 to claim the cup.

“This is the first day I’ve actually been allowed out so it’s great to see that we’ve won the trophy and to see my friends,” McColgan told Jerome Quinn afterwards.

If they can use me for inspiration that’s good but they’re all brilliant footballers so they deserve it.

Captain Conor Quigley and Head of PE Eamonn Burns, an All-Ireland winner with Derry in 1993, paid tribute to McColgan and his inspirational effect on the team.

“Joe’s a sound boy, he’s so funny,” Quigley said. “He’s the worst boy it could happen to but he’ll get through it.”

Burns added: “They’ve been talking about Joe all week and I think he was an inspiration today. He certainly was.”

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