IMPROVED SHORTS A BIG BOOST FOR MCKAY

JONNY Mckay says it’s onwards and upwards for Shorts after his club’s return to form gathered pace with a 7-0 Clarence Cup thrashing of Suffolk Swifts on Saturday. Mckay and Ricky Kerr were handed the reins of the club over the summer in the wake of Billy Youle’s departure for Lisburn Rangers, and were immediately tasked with a rebuilding job after some 14 players followed Youle through the exit door. It was a dire situation to inherit, but with the two joint managers having been at Shorts for a decade or more, they stubbornly refused to let the club sink as they set about assembling a new squad of players, with no fewer than 19 new faces coming in to fill the void. Understandably then, it was a sobering start to the season for the new men in charge at Aircraft Park as the Holywood Road outfit crashed to nine defeats in their opening 12 games in Division 1C. Recently, however, things have started to pick up. Back-to-back wins on the road at Iveagh United and Bangor Swifts halted that long losing streak, while Mckay’s men were 3-0 to the good against leaders Rosemount last time out in the league, only to squander their lead and settle for a point. That frustration aside, Mckay admits he’s delighted with how his new-look team have turned it around as they look to climb further away from the danger zone. “We’ve had a few wee injuries and stuff like that but we’ve started to get players back the last few months and that has got us back to normal,” said the Shorts chief. “And it’s not only that, we’ve signed 19 players from the start of the season and we’ve been trying to get them all in and used to each other. “Our aim was always just to stabilise and to try and get things back to normal. If we could finish top half of the table this season, then we could keep recruiting and try to kick on for next year. “So from now until the end of the season, our aim is to pick up as many points as possible and after the shaky start we had, we are capable of picking up points. “And in fairness to the guys in the camp, morale is good at the minute, the boys are buzzing and the win at the weekend as well came at a good time.” Alan Jamison, back at the club after a spell at Comber Rec, has been one of the catalysts in Shorts’ revival, with the striker netting a hat-trick against the Swifts on Saturday. “We brought AJ back and I think he has hit near 10 goals in the few months he’s been back,” added Mckay. “And we signed James Mccabe, he played previously at Larne and Ballymena. With his work situation we don’t get him every week but, whenever he’s available, he’s an asset to us now as well.”