Charity the winner as Liverpool and Manchester United fans do battle

Letterkenny Community Centre staged this year’s charity match between local Liverpool supporters and their Manchester United counterparts, with the main beneficiaries Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. 

The United lads would celebrate a 6-4 victory, with charity the real winner on the night. Following on from the success of the 2022 match - where Liverpool notched a hard-fought 2-1 win - the decision was made to run with another game.

It was organised by cousins Marc McCarron, a Liverpool fan, and Vinny McLaughlin, who is a Man United supporter. Both of whom led their respective sides onto the pitch.

Earlier this year, the pair presented a cheque to CFI for €15,000. This particular charity is held dear by Marc. Back in 2015, he was being treated at Beaumont Hospital where his lung capacity had fallen to 46%. Largely thanks to the advancements made in medicine since then - particularly through kaftrio - Marc has made a superb recovery. He even lined out in a senior game for Lagan Harps. With his capacity now up to 94%, it was a testament to how much he had progressed since his time in hospital. 

“Cystic Fibrosis Ireland changed my life,” Marc said. “They do so much great work for whoever needs them. I really noticed this during Covid. They were great at supplementing me with exercise equipment and they would often check on me just to see if I was doing okay.” 

As a way of giving something back, while also creating awareness, charity matches like these can play their part. 

“It was Vinny’s idea to do these Liverpool-United games and we had the first one last year,” Marc added. “We won that one, so I wasn’t too surprised that the United boys stacked their team with some more experienced players this time around, but maybe we’ll do something similar next time around.”

During the game itself, the Man United boys certainly enjoyed the better of things in the first half. They comfortably led 4-0 at the break with a pair of goals coming from Vinny McLaughlin, while Cory McCahill and Lee McMonagle also netted.

The first of which was a penalty where McLaughlin himself was ‘allegedly’ fouled. Let’s just say there were a fair few people wondering how he could be in such pain when he went down (under minimal contact, if any), but then just seconds later, he was well-enough to convert the penalty. Quite the miraculous recovery! 

Having said that, the Red Devils, dressed-in-white, controlled and dominated the damp and rain-soaked first-half. There was no debate about McLaughlin’s second goal though as his brilliantly excecuted left-footed strike found the net, however, the game would become a bit more of a contest in the second period. 

“It was a disappointing first half, but we got ourselves back in it in the second half,” Marc said. “It pains me to say it but the United lads did score some excellent goals. Especially Vinny’s because usually his left-foot is just for standing on, but thankfully, we got things going again after the break.”

Once the rain eased off, Graham Cullen got Liverpool back into the affair shortly before an Eric Roberts wonder goal from around 30 yards (before the TikTok edit) out brought it back to 4-2. With plenty of time left on the clock, there was perhaps a subtle ‘Spirit of Istanbul’ amongst the Redmen. 

Over the next few minutes, with a number of chances striking the woodwork for both sides, the game could’ve gone either way. Alas, through a bit of tit-for-tat scoring, United led 6-3 going into stoppage time, with Ryan Callan's own goal and Seamie Friel also on target. Liverpool’s third goal came from Conor Temple.

Stephen McConnell was dismissed late in the affair for a double use of simulation. By his own admission, he was tackled firmly-and-fairly but probably just needed a wee minute or two to rest up and catch his breath after each one. 

In the closing minutes, Liverpool were awarded a pretty dubious penalty of their own, but it gave McCarron the opportunity to get his name on the score-sheet. 

He would find the net - even if it was at the second attempt - just before referee, Marty McGarrigle, blew the final whistle. 

As expected, the mood was very joyous at the end of the game. An evening sunshine had come out as both sets of players high-fived and shared jokes. The crowd that had gathered at the match certainly had plenty of goals, and other such talking points, to discuss anyway. 

And yet, there was still one more special moment after the game. 

“Vinny presented me with a box,” Marc added. “I opened it up and saw that it was a Liverpool jersey and some sweets. When everyone started going ‘look at the box,’ it was only then that I realised that he was asking me to be his Best Man. I was really touched by that, so it’ll soon be time to start planning the stag.”