CHRIS SHERRARD SOLITUDE IS NOT SO LONELY..

Crossan happy as home form is encouraging upsurge in fans By

WITH five home games to play from their last seven, Newington are happy to be in Solitude.

Their previous two outings have also come at Cliftonville’s ground and they won each of them.

Now Conor Crossan is determined to keep that run going – after they hit the road this weekend.

A trip to Lurgan for a rearranged fixture then gives way to hosting Banbridge Town and Queen’s University before the month’s out, with a trip to Moyola squeezed in between.

The Ton are in a position where the games can’t come quickly enough such has been their improvement.

And Crossan is hoping to make the most of home advantage.

He said: “We have two away games left and the rest at home so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.

“Solitude is definitely feeling more like home for us now.

“We’re used to the pitch and the surroundings and the surface suits us.

“We can move it about a bit more than we did at Seaview.

“We’re getting a few through the gates to watch us which is always good and the more the merrier.”

The current table sees Newington sit fifth having overtaken Banbridge Town who have been treading water for weeks.

They’re now a point off Lisburn Distillery and with a game in hand on the Whites.

It’s all a far cry from the turn of the year when Crossan was even being asked whether his side would avoid the drop.

He told Match On Tuesday: “The table doesn’t lie but our league is so inconsistent, the results are completely unpredictable.

“I was asked recently about relegation and, to be honest, it was the first time that word had even come into my head.

“We’re sitting fifth at the minute so talk of relegation is a bit strange because we’re looking up the table to see how high we can finish.

“January was a tough month with a couple of bad results against Annagh and Queen’s.

“Annagh turned us over which was very disappointing but we were in the game and it was the same against Queen’s.

“But we have recovered well from that run and we’ve picked up seven points from the past three games.

“Because of the way the division is, a run like that can make a big difference to where you are in the table.

“I asked the boys at the end of January for consistency and since then they’ve won two and drawn the other one up at Portstewart.

“If we can continue to be consistent then we’ll be there or thereabouts.”

The weekend win over Armagh City wasn’t without its challenges in difficult weather conditions at Solitude.

Anto Mcgonnell and Ethan Devine had Newington in front at the break and Thomas Logan added a third in the second half. But City’s young guns gave