Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Irish League pullout inside
Four crucial points from two quick-fire games with rivals gives leaders comfortable cushion
DAVID Healy left Inver Park quietly content that title favourites Linfield pocketed four points in four days from crucial games against two of their nearest rivals.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Larne, courtesy of a late Andy Waterworth equaliser, followed hot on the heels of a 2-1 win over second-placed Coleraine last Wednesday night.
Heading into the final strait, the Blues boast a 10 point advantage over the Bannsiders who have a game in hand but face third-placed Glentoran twice this week, tomorrow night and Friday.
Maximum points for either side would ignite the title race, but any other sequence of results would keep the chasing pack at bay.
Asked if he wants to see Coleraine and Glens ‘slit each other’s throats’ in the coming days, Healy said “Of course you’d rather not see either team take maximum points from those two games.
“It would be silly of me to say otherwise. We have a free Tuesday, so we’ll sit back, watch both games on Tuesday and Friday, and see how they go.”
On Saturday’s draw at Inver Park, Healy said: “It’s hard to say if it’s a big point or not – we’ll only know come the end of the season.
“You want to win every game, but to show the bottle we did and leave with a point after being 1-0 down, we can be reasonably happy.”
■ LINFIELD’S home game with Ballymena United this Saturday has been moved to 5.30pm as a mark of respect for the Duke of Edinburgh whose funeral is at 3pm.
Hale 85
ANDY WATERWORTH enjoyed a 16-year-old flashback as he bulged the Larne net to secure a late share of the spoils for title-chasing Linfield at the weekend.
The date and memory? April 23, 2005. Morgan Day to those in the Irish League know but also the last time the striker scored at Inver Park in the league.
As Chris Morgan was steering Glentoran to eventual title glory at The Oval, 25 miles away, Waterworth was helping Ards survive the drop with a 2-2 draw at Larne.
“It’s funny looking back,” said Waterworth, whose 85th minute header on Saturday salvaged a 1-1 draw after Ronan Hale (right) had fired Tiernan Lynch’s men into a first half lead.
“I actually said to the boys before the game that I had flashbacks from a game I played at Inver Park for Ards back in 2005.
“People will remember the date better for the Big Two derby on Morgan Day, but I scored that day for Ards against Larne and we managed to stay up.
“It was at the same end of the ground at Inver too so it was a nice omen. I just gambled and it was a nice early birthday present.”
Waterworth, who turned 35 on Sunday, had only been on the pitch eight minutes when he headed Ross Larkin’s scrambled assist into the roof of the net.
The striker, who looks destined to leave Windsor Park in the summer as Linfield transition to a full-time model, has had to be content with reduced gametime this season.
But with 14 goals in his locker, he’s eager to continue playing any part he can to help the Blues secure the fourth Gibson Cup of his eight-year spell with the club.
“It’s been tough, but I feel good,” he said. “I was saying to Jimmy Callacher on the way to Inver Park that ‘it’s a mental game this’. “Travelling to games and knowing you’re not playing. Training, doing all your runs after the game and you’re probably only getting 10 or 15 minutes.
“But I genuinely mean this, it’s not about me. We want to win another league title and I just want to play my part, whatever that entails.
“We have great players in the changing room and I just want to support them. The shoe has been on the foot many times in the past when I have been starting. “I remember when I first came to Linfield, Peter
Thompson – who had been a legend at the club - wasn’t playing and I was.
“I think to myself, I have that role to play now. I don’t want to be that person who mopes about and hopefully this goal shows I can still add something.
“Hopefully at the end of the season, I have another Gibson Cup to show for it.”
It felt like a big point for Linfield who are 10 points clear of Coleraine, albeit with one more game played, heading into the final strait.
Larne, who bossed long periods, almost won it at the death but Blues keeper Chris Johns produced a stunning save to palm Sule’s shot over the bar.
Boss Lynch said: “I know most teams would be delighted with a point against Linfield, but the football we played and chances we created, we’re hugely disappointed.”