Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TACULA SUBSTITUTION
Deadly Mcdaid spirited off the bench to fire in two crackers & give Larne fans Halloween treat
HOW apt that Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit Thriller was booming from the stadum tannoy just minutes after Davy Mcdaid had put the frighteners on Ballymena United at Inver Park.
How apt that on a cold Halloween afternoon, the Larne striker should pounce for two ghouls in two freakish minutes to give David Jeffrey nightmares in East Antrim.
Jackson’s trademark voice gyrated across the cold night air as Tiernan Lynch’s men celebrated maximum points from their opening three games.
The lyrics from the PA might have referred to Mcdaid who was held in reserve on the bench before making his dramatic entrance with time running out.
Less than three minutes later one of the classiest and most clinical goal scorers to grace the Irish League in recent years had turned a stalemate into a stroll.
Bang, bang, game over.
“Davy’s a real fox in the box,” said boss Lynch of Mcdaid’s headline grabbing salvo. “In my opinion, there’s no better predator when you’re looking for a goal.”
Introduced to the fray in the 73rd minute, Mcdaid broke the deadlock in the 74th minute when he latched onto a Lee Lynch pass to rifle a low shot into the far corner.
He then repeated the trick in the 75th minute, racing onto a clever Marty Donnelly pass to steer a low shot past the exposed Ross Glendinning.
On both occasions and with Larne fans rising to their feet in expectation, there was no doubt where the ball would end up. In the back of the net.
Lynch emitted a wry chuckle when asked if Mcdaid’s explosive introduction was one of the most inspired substitutions of his managerial career.
“Sometimes they go for you and sometimes they don’t,” he said.
“We were getting a lot of balls into the Ballymena box at that stage and we were knocking on the door. It was the right time to get him on the pitch.
“Overall I thought we were excellent and we played really good football at the right times.”
Larne bossed this encounter for long periods and while Ballymena put in a tireless shift, Conor Devlin’s goal was rarely tested.
At the other end Josh Robinson, a summer arrival from Linfield, went close for Larne when his close range header was helped onto the