Bannsiders boss disappointed by the performance but not the result

Goals from Darren McCauley and James McLaughlin gave the Bannsiders their sixth win of the season to consolidate fourth place in the table.

But if truth be told Kearney’s men struggled to replicate the performance levels of last week’s win at Portadown.

They needed a couple of smart stops from Michael Doherty to keep their lead intact as the visitors pushed them hard.

“It was far from the most convincing performance I’ve saw us produce,” he told Times Sport after the game.

“Last week we had the result and the performance, today I think it was only the result, the performance wasn’t really there.

“The goals came in what was probably the only 15 minutes of football we played on the day.

“The first one was something out of nothing, Rodney wins the first header and keeps it alive, and to be fair to Darren McCauley it’s a cracking finish.

“We kicked on for the fifteen minutes leading up to the end of the first half, we pressured them high up the pitch.

“That’s where the second goal comes from. Darren does really well to keep the ball alive, and James does what he does, he’s a predator when he gest into those areas and he showed it with another great finish. It was nice to see it go in.”

Kearney is hoping the result is a sign of maturity and learning from his young players.

He knows only too well that he has been shaking his head in the past as his sides produced excellent performances but ultimatley finished games with nothing to show for his efforts.

“I remember a couple of seasons ago against Cliftonville we were beat 5-1 on the day, but it was one of the best performances of that season,” said Kearney.

“That’s football unfortunately. Today our performance was no where close to what we would expect, but in the same stretch we have managed the game.

“Doc has pulled off three or four good saves to keep the clean sheet and we’ve got the three points.

“I hope we are learning from games like this in the past.