Kelly’s the hero, but tips old club Glenavon to grasp title
FORMER Glenavon defender Simon Kelly says his old side can win the Gibson Cup this season despite helping to put a small dent in their title aspirations on Saturday.
The big man put on a superb display of defending and leadership for Warrenpoint Town who were good value for a share of the spoils at Mourneview Park.
Kelly, who played in Lurgan for four seasons, galvanised his side when Glenavon threw everything at him and his teammates in the second-half after the visitors had taken the lead after 18 minutes.
It was a great move, typical of the way manager Stephen McDonnell wants his side to play, starting at the back before the ball was swept wide to Eamon Scannell and his pinpoint cross to the back post was headed home by Philip Donnelly.
Glenavon should have been level in the 36th minute when substitute Conor McGrandles fouled Caolan Marron in the box but former Town striker Stephen Murray was denied by the excellent Aaron McCarey.
McCarey had no chance though when Murray did scored two minutes before the break, Mark Sykes’ shot deflected out of his path by Danny Wallace’s block and the striker had the easy task of tapping home.
Both sides had their chances to score in the second half, Jonny Tuffey pulling off saves to deny Fra McCaffrey and Scannell, while McCarey produced two moments of brilliance to keep out rasping drives from Sammy Clingan and Josh Daniels.
But having put a small spanner in the works, Kelly was bullish when asked about his former side’s title chances.
“I can’t see why not. They’re getting better every year, they’ve got some unbelievable young players like Marron, (Mark) Sykes, (Rhys) Marshall, they’re unreal,” he said.
“The problem is maybe keeping them in January because they are that good but if they keep the squad together I can’t see why they can’t win in.
“They are as good as anyone up there and a very impressive GLENAVON: Tuffey, Marshall, Singleton, Marron, King (Clingan 67), Doherty, Daniels, Sykes, Mitchell (Jenkins 78), Murray, Hall (McCloskey 82). Subs not used: Clingan, Grace, Harmon, Larmour, Muir. WARRENPOINT TOWN: McCarey, Foster, Hughes, Wallace, Reilly (McGrandles 24),
team. I wouldn’t say who’s better than who, but I have been very impressed by Glenavon and I’ve seen them a few times this year Kelly, Lynch, Watters (McCaffrey 46), O’Sullivan (Griffin 79), Donnelly, Scannell. Subs not used: Lynch, Halfpenny, Turker, Magowan.
Referee: Lee Tavinder (Dungannon)
Man of the match: Simon Kelly
Match rating: 7/10.
and every time I see them they have bundles of energy and they know what they’re good at.”
And much the same could be Drawing sting: Stephen Murray (left) found the net against his old club while (inset)
Simon Kelly tracks Mark Sykes
said of Warrenpoint, the disastrous start to the season a dim and distant memory now and having taking points of Glenavon and Linfield in the past fortnight, they are looking up rather than down.
“It was a great point for us, playing the team at the top of the league and probably the best team at the minute,” he added.
“We defended for most of it but kept our shape well and it’s a very good point for us.
“I thought we were a little bit better last week and I thought we deserved to win the game but I think a draw was fair today. We had a little chance but they had a lot more of the ball, but if you’d told us we’d take two points of the top two, I would have snapped your hand off.”
Certainly having McCarey on board would help, the former Ross County man has been superb for Town since joining but Kelly admits that it is likely to be s short-term trip stay in the Mournes for the Monaghan man.
“Aaron is different class, we were very lucky to get him here and we’ll enjoy him while we can because he’s top class and I can’t see him being here after January.”
Gary Hamilton felt his side had done enough to win and with Linfield losing against Coleraine would have given them a little more breathing space at the top of the pile.
“We’re not even thinking like that at the minute, we just want to get three points in every game we play and after January we’ll see where we are then,” he said.s CLIFTONVILLE boss Barry Gray insists complacency will not be an issue in tonight’s league showdown with Newry City at Solitude (7.45pm).
Both teams approach the game with contrasting fortunes. Gray’s Reds have reeled in nine points from their last three Danske Bank Premiership outings, while bottom-of-the-table Newry have managed only two wins in 14 starts since their elevation to the top flight.
It means they are separated by a 15-point margin in the table, but Gray doesn’t intend to become carried away by facts and figures.
“We’ve has a decent couple of results, without getting too excited,” he said. “We had to start turning the corner at some stage. I wouldn’t say we are around the corner, but hopefully, we are starting to see the light at the other side.
“Looking at the top there is very little between the teams. But being in the top six is not enough, we’ve got to kick on.”
The Reds are coming off a lastgasp win over Glentoran — Joe Gormley plundering the vital goal.
“The clean sheet gave me as much satisfaction. Some of the goals we were conceding were very soft. In the same sense, we’ve never been beaten by more than one goal.”
Although Newry at rooted at the bottom of the table, manager Darren Mullen believes they have the quality to repair the damage.
“We have a great bunch of lads who have been terrific for us for the past four or five years,” he said. “We have been used to winning games and we now find ourselves in a difficult place, which is the flip side.
“But it’s times like this you find out who your characters are. It’s testing me as a manager and it’s also testing the players.
“Unfortunately, we’ll be missing Declan Carvill because of suspension. We also have injury concerns over Jimmy Walker and Darren King, while Conall Delaney will be missing.
“But whoever comes in, they’ll be expected to do a job for us.”