Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin admits he was emotional after his side ended their four-game winless Premiership run by beating high-flying Cliftonville 1-0 at Solitude – a result which he feels “nobody in the country gave us a chance” to get.

The Sky Blues have endured a rollercoaster campaign, losing their opening four matches before winning eight on the trot, which sent them top of the Premiership table, and then suffered another four consecutive defeats.

Andy Scott’s second half strike ensured Ervin’s side sealed a third win of the season over Cliftonville, who remain in second but are now eight points behind leaders Linfield, and propelled Ballymena back up to third spot – level on points with Saturday’s opponents.

The Showgrounds outfit have lost the same amount of games this season as 11th-placed Glenavon (eight) while only the Blues have won more (11) than Ballymena’s nine in a campaign which has been all or nothing – they remain the only team yet to draw in the Premiership.

placeholder image — Andy Scott celebrates after scoring the winning goal for Ballymena United on Saturday. (Photo by Pacemaker Press)

"I'm probably a bit emotional about it because we've had a horrible time over the last few weeks,” reflected Ervin on the club’s media channel. “We went on such a good run to win the games we did and then we've been very unfortunate.

"Other than Portadown, where we were extremely disappointed, it has been fine margins. We were without four key players here today - Kym Nelson is injured, Sean Brown is injured and Ben Kennedy and Johnny McMurray are suspended.

"To miss those four players and to come to Solitude and keep a clean sheet is incredible. I have to praise the guys that were in front of Ogers (Sean O'Neill) and Ogers himself.

"The guys that came off the bench played a big part - Colin Coates, Caolan Loughran, Joe Moore. I'm so proud of the players because they deserve it. They've worked their socks off for weeks now and not got their rewards."

The absence of Ben Kennedy, who was the Premiership’s top scorer until Matthew Shevlin surpassed him this weekend, through suspension was undoubtedly a blow going to Solitude against a Reds side that were unbeaten in their last five league outings, but a fourth clean sheet in nine away matches set the platform for success.

"If we're going to be honest, nobody in the country gave us a chance today,” added Ervin. “I'm sure when they seen the team sheet going out and the players we missed, maybe some of our own supporters felt the same thing, but I said to the guys if they had the right attitude and desire...when you put your mind to it anything is possible.

"I'm so pleased and proud of them. It's three points but a lot of hard work still needs to be done. We need to keep going and doing what we did today.”