Former Ballymena United and Portadown striker reveals key role played by ex-Kilmarnock manager in Irish League move

Having scored four league goals for the Ports last term, including a crucial 94th minute winner against Bangor at Shamrock Park in March, as Niall Currie’s men won the Championship title to secure top-flight promotion, Kane’s departure was confirmed in July.

A matter of days later, the 25-year-old was announced as Moyola’s latest recruit and Kane wasted no time in showing his ability, netting twice on debut in their 9-0 Irish Cup triumph over Lower Maze and also played 90 minutes as they progressed past Oxford Sunnyside in the BetMcLean Cup.

Shiels, who has managed the likes of Coleraine, Ballymena United, Larne, Kilmarnock, Derry City and Northern Ireland Women in his over 30-year career in the dugout, was confirmed as new Moyola boss in October and will be looking to improve on an 11th-placed finish last term.

He won the Scottish League Cup during his first season in charge of Kilmarnock and also helped Northern Ireland qualify for UEFA Women's Euro 2022.

The Mill Meadow outfit get their new league campaign underway with a trip to Banbridge Town on Saturday and Kane has enjoyed getting to work alongside Shiels.

"It has been great working with Kenny,” he said. “It was really hard to say no to him because he was keen to sign me and was persistent.

"He sold me the vision of the club and he has great ideas so once I heard that it was an easy decision. As a player you'll learn so much from someone like Kenny. The training is brilliant and well-run. They've a new pitch too and it's definitely a good setup.

"I had offers from clubs higher up, but when someone like Kenny comes in it's hard to say no."

Kane started out by starring for local club Dervock – he caught the attention of Ballymena boss David Jeffrey after scoring 67 times during the 2018/19 season – and he still lives in the County Antrim village, meaning he undertook multiple three-hour round-trips per week to play for Portadown.

While determined to one day test himself at Premiership level once again, Moyola is the perfect destination at this point for Kane.

"I loved my time at Portadown,” he reflected. “The fans were unbelievable and came in their numbers every week, no matter where we played.

"One night away to Bangor there was hundreds of them there on a Tuesday evening - it was great support. It's a massive club and it was great to score a few important goals which helped win the league.

"It was always hard because of the travelling and I ended up having to leave work early. The big thing keeping me there would have been getting to play in the Premiership but the travelling was hard. I'd definitely want another crack at the Premiership some day...every player wants to play at the highest level.

"There's a great feeling around Moyola. We've quality players and it's really enjoyable to play. No matter where you sign, as a striker you're always expected to score goals and that's what I'll be trying to do. Kenny is looking to take it one game at a time and we're not looking too far ahead of ourselves."