I almost made move to the Glens, says Blues newcomer O’Connor
LINFIELD: Carroll, Robinson, Callacher, O’Connor (Waterworth, 87 mins), Cooper (Quinn, 79 mins), Millar, Clarke, Kearns, Mulgrew, Mitchell, Casement. Unused subs: Stewart, Fallon, Garrett, McGuinness, Deane.
BALLYMENA: Ross Glendinning, Kane (Knowles, 79 mins), Addis (Balmer, 27 mins), Whiteside, Mayse (Lecky, 67 mins), Friel, McCullough, McGrory, Ervin, Millar, McMurray. Unused subs: McDermott, Faulkner, Winchester, Reece Glendinning. Referee: Tim Marshall (Irvinestown). Man of the match: Joel Cooper
Match rating: 8/10 signing Michael O’Connor is already a big favourite with Linfield fans, but he admitted after another five-star showing that he almost joined Big Two rivals Glentoran in the summer.
The 20-year-old got the Blues back in the groove against a gutsy Ballymena United at Windsor Park on Saturday by hitting a first half equaliser after Cathair Friel had headed the Sky Blues into an early lead.
And, it was fitting O’Connor played a vital role in manufacturing the winning goal, superbly executed by Joel Cooper.
The former Dundalk man got a telling flick to Roy Carroll’s booming clearance and Cooper simply did what he does best with a stinging drive from the edge of the box.
“We knew it would be tough against Ballymena,” said O’Connor. “We knew they would come here and throw everything at us.
Making a mark: Linfield’s Michael O’Connor wheels away after scoring his side’s equaliser
“As a team we reacted unbelievably well. It shows the character we have in the dressing room to come from a goal down to win the game.”
Although it was his fourth goal in a blue shirt, O’Connor admits he’s disappointed with his return, so far. He added: “I can’t complain about the delivery and the supply of great balls into the penalty area. I think I need to do a bit of work on my finishing and hopefully, I’ll get a few more goals.
“Joining Linfield has been a great move for me, considering I was supposed to sign for Glentoran. I came up to play a friendly for the Blues against Waterford and I did well, scoring both goals
in a 2-1 win. I signed immediately after the game.
“But I was supposed to play for Glentoran 24 hours later — obviously that didn’t happen.
“Everything was the perfect fit at Linfield — the stadium, the team, the coaching staff, the training pitch. It’s such a big club.”
O’Connor admits he is gradually coming to terms with the hustle and bustle of the Irish League.
He added: “It’s a different type of game from down south. You don’t get time on the ball up here, people are on you or snapping at your heels. It’s a lot more physical. It’s a tough, tough league, but it’s been great so far.”
The match didn’t pass without incident with both managers arguing their teams were deprived of a ‘stonewall’ penalty kick.
Blues chief David Healy insists Scott Whiteside used an arm to keep out a close range effort from O’Connor, while United’s David Jeffrey is adamant that Josh Robinson blatantly shoved Friel in the back inside the box.
“To me it was a clear-cut decision,” said Healy. “Michael was two yards out — he should have scored anyway. But the ball clearly struck an arm. It was a big decision at a crucial stage. It was a big call because not only was it a penalty, but a red card. Thankfully, it didn’t cost us.”
Jeffrey insisted the second inNEW cident 17 minutes from time was a ‘stonewall’ decision.
“Josh Robinson clearly put his elbow down the back of Cathair,” he roared. “The linesman is only yards away. He has got to have that courage to make the call. It was a clear penalty.
“I’m so disappointed for the players because in my opinion we deserved at least a point.
“Linfield will probably claim a penalty, but it was a ridiculous situation, the ball hit the player’s arm. There was no intent.
“The mood in the camp was not great afterwards because we knew we should have had a point. We came here to win the game — we gave as good as we got. I asked the boys to be warriors and stand up to the challenge and they did that. But we didn’t get our rewards.” STEPHEN Baxter said he always believed Crusaders would recover from their recent “bump in the road”.
Prior to Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Institute at Brandywell Stadium, the Crues had suffered successive defeats to Glenavon and Dungannon Swifts and had just 10 points on the board from their first eight outings of the Danske Bank Premiership season.
However, an early goal from Rory Patterson set them on their way against Stute, who replied courtesy of Jamie McIntyre, before Jordan Owens and Colin Coates put the visitors firmly in control ahead of Jordan Forsythe wrapping things up with an eye-catching effort from the halfway line.
“I’m always confident we’ll win football matches, we’ve been doing it for a long time,” said Baxter.
“Sometimes you can hit a bump in the road for various reasons — there’s been a flu going around, there’s been injuries we’ve had problems with in the last three or four weeks, but we didn’t make excuses.
“We have a big panel of players and we got on with it. It was good to get back to winning ways. It’s early in the season and we just have to keep working hard and giving our best.
“I think today was a positive result for us because I think this Institute team have a bit of potential.”
Opposite number Paddy McLaughlin reflected: “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves or curse our luck too much. We have to dust ourselves down and get on with it.”
INSTITUTE: Gallagher, R Morrow (Jarvis, 57 mins), McLaughlin, Bonner, D Curry, Doherty, Harkin, McCrudden, J Morrow (Henderson, 71 mins), McIntyre (S Curry, 83 mins), Wilson.
CRUSADERS: O’Neill, McChrystal, Beverland, Coates, Ward, Cushley (Owens, 46 mins), Forsythe (Carvill, 83 mins), Snoddy, Heatley, Clarke, Patterson (Caddell, 72 mins).
Referee: Andrew Davey (Bangor)
Man of the match: Jordan Owens
Match rating: 8/10