Rory Knox states why captaining Coleraine to Senior Cup glory would taste even sweeter than title joy
Coleraine have been the surprise package of the 2025 North West season to date, with the Bannsiders sitting proudly at the summit of the Premiership and in the Semi-Final of the Senior Cup.
It's quite a transformation from 2024 when they were involved in a relegation dogfight, and much of the credit must go to their new captain, all-rounder Rory Knox.
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Press and Journal
5 hours ago
- Press and Journal
Ross County sign versatile ex-Sunderland defender as Steven Ferguson delivers update on Ronan Hale's future
Ross County's summer recruitment continues with the signing of versatile defender Ben Crompton. After leaving Premier League newcomers Sunderland, the 21-year-old has agreed to head to County on a pre-contract agreement, two-year deal. Crompton, who has experience playing right-back and centre back, never made a first-team appearance for the Black Cats but played 25 times for English National League side Tamworth last term. County manager Don Cowie explained why Crompton, who joins the club on July 1, fits the bill. He said: 'We are really happy Ben has chosen to join us. He had a really productive loan spell with Tamworth last season. He offers strong ability on the ball, as well as an imposing physical presence.' Crompton will join fellow defender Declan Gallacher, midfielder Ross Docherty and winger Gary Mackay-Steven as the new arrivals in Dingwall following the club's relegation from the Premiership last month. County, meanwhile, expect striker Ronan Hale to lead the line and fire the club back to the Premiership next season. The 26-year-old joined County on a three-year contract last summer when he moved to the Dingwall club from part-time NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville. Hale, who made his full Northern Ireland debut last week, has been linked to clubs around the country on the back of scoring 18 goals in all competitions in his debut term with the Highlanders. When asked about his club future last week, Hale said: 'I'm not sure at the moment. 'Obviously, we had a disappointing end to the season by being relegated, but it's one we need to look at and see what's best for my career.' County were relegated to the Championship after losing to the Premiership play-off final to Livingston last month. However, there is no question in County chief executive Steven Ferguson's mind that Hale will be checking into the Global Energy Stadium with the rest of his team-mates on Monday. He said: 'We encourage players wanting to improve themselves, but Ronan is under contract, and he will be reporting for pre-season training as part of the group that is going to try and win the Championship. 'The challenge for last season was that we lost Jack Baldwin, Yan Dhanda and Simon Murray and, with 10 games to go we thought we had achieved a good season, despite that. 'We are consistently the youngest team in the Premiership, and a lot of that is down to who we can recruit to the Highlands. 'We identified that, after another discussion between the chairman and I, we needed experienced knowledge alongside these talented youngsters. 'Noah Chilvers is 24 and Ronan Hale is 26, so we are getting guys that we believe are in their prime. 'That was part of the reason we brought these guys in on longer-term contracts, because we have seen them as part of the longer journey. 'That's still there, but there has been another path added which is this one year where we are fully focused on winning the Championship. 'I wouldn't be surprised if there is interest in more of our players, but the way that we do our business is that these players are under contract with us, and we look after our players. 'We'll give these players the opportunity to perform on a Saturday.' Ferguson explained that losing Simon Murray to Dundee last summer led to Hale becoming their number one target. County are going all out to win the Championship within one year and the feeling is it will take plenty of cash for any move to even be entertained, as Hale is too important within the team. He said: 'We invested in Ronan as a replacement for Simon Murray, and this is one of the things I was speaking about before where a lot of good things happened last year. 'Simon left having scored 20 (league) goals, and we got a good return on investment for the gamble we took two years ago. 'To get that was acceptable, and we wished Simon well when he went, but we had to replace him. 'Ronan Hale was earmarked as that person, and if you were to tell me that he would end up with 17 goals in his first season in the Premiership, I would have bitten both of your hands off. 'That was a good piece of business. (Chief scout) Greg Strong was involved in that, the manager was involved, and the chairman and I were both involved, so that was a real plus. 'Getting 17 goals in a team that was struggling to score was huge. He's just had a cap for Northern Ireland, so that raises his profile, but he's on a long-term contract to be a Ross County player.' Ferguson, who along with Stuart Kettlewell took County back to the Premiership in 2018-19 as co-managers, detailed how the squad is in healthy shape after eight players, excluding loanees, had moved on. He added: 'It's not just Ronan Hale who is still in contract – Akil Wright, Noah Chilvers, our two goalkeepers (Ross Laidlaw and Jordan Amissah) are too. 'I think we've got two Premiership goalkeepers, so that position is well and truly nailed down. 'George Harmon has played 100 Premiership games, Connor Randall has played over 250 career league games, we've got Eamonn Brophy coming back, Jordan White, Kieran Phillips who we chased for a long time – all of these guys are still under contract and hungry to play. 'Jay Henderson was nominated for player of the year in the Championship last season. We believed that him going and playing 40 games in the Championship would mean we had a more complete player next year. 'We thought we would be in the Premiership, and we're not, but the way his contract was structured he's still here and he will be with us in the Championship. 'We were after six signings, and we've got three over the line quickly, and we're hoping another three will follow to complement the players we have. 'That's not forgetting Andrew MacLeod and George Robesten, as academy graduates, who made inroads last year and played in Premiership games.'
Daily Record
8 hours ago
- Daily Record
The haunting Rangers failure Steven Davis still lives with as former skipper lifts lid on 'huge frustration'
Davis admits it still lives with him that Rangers failed to kick on after sealing 55 Steven Davis admits he's still haunted by Rangers ' failure turn 55 into 56. The retired Ibrox legend was a key man when Steven Gerrard 's squad last lifted Premiership silver back in 2021. But they let that crown slip the following season after Gerrard made a mid-season move to Aston Villa, with his replacement Gio van Bronckhorst unable to mount a repeat of the previous season's title triumph. It has proved to be a pivotal sliding doors moment. Instead of embarking on their own era of glory, Gers have had to sit and watch their Parkhead foes rack up four straight league wins in a row. 'It's a huge frustration to be honest,' admitted former skipper Davis. 'I believe that with the quality we had in that time, we should have had a lot more success than what we did together. "It's easy to sit here and say that but it's hard to pinpoint the reasons why we didn't go on and achieve more than what we did, because we did really feel that the quality was there within the team. 'Ultimately over the course of the season, usually the best team wins and we didn't do enough in that year to do it.' Asked if he felt Rangers would be in a far stronger position now had they backed up their 2021 victory, the Northern Irishman replied: 'One hundred percent. That's always the ambition, once you get your hands on that first trophy, you want to do it on a regular basis. "We know it's not easy to have consistent success and we fell short really in the end. It's still a huge frustration for all of us involved, me certainly.' It's that failure to deliver regular silverware which means captain James Tavernier continues to divide the Ibrox fanbase. The full-back has clocked up 10 years in Glasgow but the club have yet to announce if he will be honoured for a decade of service. Davis, though, is adamant there would be no-one more deserving of a testimonial than Tavernier. He said: 'I think 10 years service at a club like Rangers is an unbelievable achievement. 'You know when you sign there that you're going to get criticism at some point during your career. He's had that but he's got broad enough shoulders, and for me, he's dealt with it really well. 'And I think also at Rangers, they're always looking for better players to replace you. But ultimately, he's managed to keep his place over the course of the time that he's been there, 'So everybody who has been manager has always seen the qualities when deciding to keep playing him and to keep him as captain as well. 'So I think if you have that level of service at a club, then you deserve everything you get.' Russell Martin is rumoured to be eyeing up Max Aarons as a potential replacement for Tavernier. But Davis believes his old-team still has plenty to offer. Asked if he could understand the flak directed at Tav, he replied: 'That's the Glasgow fishbowl, isn't it? 'When you're captain of the club and the club hasn't won as many trophies as they would like in recent times, that pressure's going to come, the stress is going to come. For me, sometimes it's over the top. 'I think he's been a fabulous player for the club. 'His availability is unquestionable, the number of goals and assists that he's had is incredible really, for a full-back or any position to be honest. I think he's been a really good servant for the football club. 'Sometimes that is overlooked. I understand that, you're always going to get critics out there. But I do feel that at times it's been a little bit over the mark with Tav. 'You can't be false to who you are as a person. You get the role because of the qualities that you bring, and you try to bring those qualities to the team. 'There's no two people who are the same and everybody will lead in different ways as well. 'It's just about the consistency of your actions, really. For me, that's how I tried to act as a player, I tried to lead by example. "Obviously on the basis of that, I was chosen in different captaincy roles at various clubs and also for my country as well. 'It's the same in management too, which I'm finding out now in my new coaching role. There are many different managers out there but you can't copycat anybody, you just have to be your own person. 'And I think people then respond to that. ' Davis isn't ready to write off Tavernier - but he admits it might be time for Ross McCausland to consider an Ibrox exit if he can't win over new boss Martin. He gave his fellow countryman his big break when he introduced him to the Gers line-up during his brief stint as caretaker gaffer in 2023. McCausland got off to a flying start - but he's featured less and less lately after a nightmare display towards the end of the season saw him sent off at Pittodrie. 'I think for you, development is always important to play games, that's where you learn,' said Davis. 'It's difficult to just train and try to progress, so it's obviously going to be another big summer for Ross in terms of the decisions that he makes. 'I'm sure different things are floating around his head, but ultimately there's a new manager coming in, he'll be open to seeing what players can bring to the team and give them an opportunity to do that and really impress in pre-season. 'Maybe then things can go from there. 'Hopefully that's the case for Ross. I think he's got qualities in there, he has had a difficult season and he's probably the first to admit that himself. 'But he'll ultimately want to stay at Rangers and have a career there, so I think the onus is on him to really go and stamp his authority on pre-season and see where that takes him. 'As a manager you have to be open-minded and I think there's always players that will surprise you. I've seen Russell talking about that himself. 'I think that when you go in there, you have a picture of maybe the qualities that players have, but until you work with them on a daily basis then you don't really get the full picture. 'Obviously Russell will be bringing in his own people to try to help the team as well but there's no reason why players like Ross who have kind been on the periphery this season can't show that they have qualities that they can bring to the team.' Davis was speaking as he helped promote 10 Years On - a celebratory event taking place at Belfast's Ulster Hall on May 2, 2026, marking next year's anniversary of Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 campaign. For tickets go to
BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
'Brain fog' after NW200 crash was worrying
Motorcycle road racer Jamie Coward says he believes he "got away lightly" after crashing at last month's North West 200 but explained that persistent "brain fog" was a concern in the weeks following the 34-year-old came off his Kawasaki machine at Quarry Hill during the opening Supertwins race over the Triangle circuit and was taken to hospital in Coleraine for treatment on his returned home to England a few days later but missed the subsequent Isle of Man TT."At first in hospital they thought I had a bleed on the brain but they had to send it off to a specialist to find out if it was or not," Coward told BBC Sport NI."It turned out it was just badly bruised. I was severely concussed and for about four or five weeks I've not really felt like myself and it wasn't really until a week ago that a lightbulb came on and I'm back to myself again."At one point it got quite worrying with it being such a long time with that brain fog."Coward revealed that he also sustained "a hole in the leg" in the accident on the Saturday of race week."I'm not sure what punctured my leg, but either a footpeg or a handlebar or a lever went about four or five inches into my leg and left quite a big deep wound."I had to leave that open, let it heal from the inside out, but the worst thing was the bang on the head."I'm back to normal, back working and looking forward to getting back on a bike." 'I blacked out when I hit the floor' The Yorkshireman had been competing at the North West for the first time since 2022 and his stable of machinery also included a factory-backed Triumph for the Supersport class and BMW bikes for the 1000cc has achieved podium finishes at both the North West and the TT in the past and had posted sixth places in the opening Superbike and Supersport races on the Thursday evening of this year's event, before crashing two days later."I felt really good and on that first race day at the North West. I had some really strong results after being away for two years."I can remember exactly what happened [in the crash]. I tried to go past somebody into the last corner. He went defensive, as you do on the last lap of the race, and as I grabbed the brake I lost the front end. When I hit the floor I blacked out and I can't remember anything else until I woke up in the hospital."In previous incidents and crashes there, people ended their careers."Coward's racing itinerary in the coming weeks will include a return to the Armoy road races on 25-26 was named man-of-the-meeting at the event in 2024."I'm hoping that the confidence is still there when I get back on the bike and I'll be trying my best to get back to where I was," added the KTS Steadplan Racing rider."I absolutely love the Armoy road races. It's very reminiscent of the Southern 100 races where I started my road racing career."The committee, the people who run it, are really friendly and I love the circuit and the spectators come out in force."Last year Coward won both Supertwins races, setting a new lap record for the class at 100.536mph in the process, and also achieved two third positions and a fourth in other races at the meeting in County Antrim."You cross the finish line and people are waving their programmes at you. There's no other feeling like it."If I can find that confidence I had before the crash then we should be there or thereabouts and fighting for podiums and wins again."
