Author: Lewis Bennett
-
Tying down revelatory Shea Kearney to 2027 may already be Cliftonville’s signing of the summer
If you’re picking out a breakthrough star from the Sports Direct Premiership this season, the meteoric rise of Cliftonville’s Shea Kearney can hardly be overlooked. The Lurgan lad has been in spectacular form for the Reds – and it was music to the ears of the supporters when news of his two-year contract extension at…
-
Bunched-up PIL summit and big twists tee up tense title hunt to go right to the wire
The Playr-Fit Premier Intermediate League promotion race took some fresh turns at the weekend, thus a climactic end to the campaign is in the pipeline with the prize of dining among the ranks of senior-status football in 2024/25. A couple of crunch clashes between top-five rivals, namely Armagh City’s hosting of leaders Limavady United and…
-
Glentoran have tools to be a success story… but it all depends on finding right manager
Here’s the long and short of it – the news of Warren Feeney’s Glentoran departure had been coming. After a humbling 3-0 home defeat to Loughgall and over a dozen supporters’ clubs declaring their message of no confidence in the former Northern Ireland striker, what was an already precarious position for the man in the…
-
Portadown showed mettle in BetMcLean Cup Final, but promotion is the ultimate success
It proved one step too far in the end for Portadown in the BetMcLean Cup, but they certainly didn’t disgrace themselves under the spotlight on Sunday. The Ports, who eliminated three Premiership outfits en route to the decider, weren’t able to take down a fourth on trophy day as Linfield ran out 3-1 victors in…
-
Linfield’s captain fantastic Jamie Mulgrew is perfect inspiration to Blues’ present and future
After Linfield defended their BetMcLean Cup crown at Windsor Park on Sunday, there was jubilation in the way you would expect a trophy win to be celebrated. Any trophy is there to be toasted and, although a club of the Blues’ stature will never be content just to stop at one, they are moments for…
-
Linfield won BetMcLean Cup the hard way… ‘home advantage’ argument just doesn’t stick
Well, Linfield have done what Linfield tend to do, adding another trophy to their sizeable trophy cabinet in the form of the BetMcLean Cup. In front of over 9,000 interested spectators at Windsor Park, the Blues’ successful defence of a piece of silverware that’s rapidly risen in prominence in recent years thanks to its Sunday…
-
Linfield are big favourites to retain BetMcLean Cup… but Portadown won’t go down quietly
The second of the Irish League’s three senior cup Finals is now upon us – the one that has, in recent years, attracted the biggest crowd of the lot. The NI Football League’s bold call to make the BetMcLean Cup decider a Sunday special, a day of the week when Irish League football has very…
-
Cup progression further inspires Linfield to do talking on the pitch after turbulent week
In the first of two successive Sunday specials against Championship opposition for Linfield, round one passed with little hitch. Although the BetMcLean Cup showpiece against Portadown is on the seventh day by design, with crowds of over 11,000 flocking to Windsor Park each of the previous two editions, their visit to Institute was more through…
Football Chatters 