Oran Kearney praise for 'such a good player' who Irish League fans 'don't get to see best of' due to Ballymena United pitch
Carrick Rangers’ hopes of sealing a top-half Premiership finish were ended after a 2-1 defeat to Ballymena United on Saturday.
Stephen Baxter’s side transformed their season with a stunning run throughout 2026, but they’ll now be battling for the final European play-off spot with Dungannon Swifts securing a top-six position.
Igor Rutkowski’s brace helped ease Ballymena’s relegation fears while Danny Gibson’s penalty provided Carrick with a lifeline.
Here’s what Ballymena manager Oran Kearney had to say after the match:
DELIGHTED WITH THE WIN?
"We make no bones about it, it was tough.
"I thought in the first half we nearly tried too hard to be too precise, and again, sadly the pitch and the way that it is at the minute, it just doesn't lend itself...I mentioned it last week and I'm not going to go over it again, but we train a very different way than what you're asked to do out there.
"It is hard for the players sometimes because you've got to practice all the important things on the 3G, and it flows great.
"But it's finding that happy medium out here to be able to do that, and I thought first half we didn't probably do it as well.
"I thought Carrick were probably stronger, looked slightly ahead in the first half, but I thought the second half we looked a lot stronger.
"The goals changed us as well. I said it to them after, there's been no pressure from our side.
"The changing room has been really calm since we've come in. Everything's been good attitude, everything's been brilliant, and we're not ramping any pressure on players in there.
"But I suppose it is when you're not winning games and you haven't won games. The difference in us to me when we scored the first goal, we looked as if all of a sudden we had a big spring in our step.
"We went and got our second. I haven't seen their penalty back, but Dylan's (McGeouch) adamant and he picked up the yellow card for it.
"Then it turns into what it was for the last 10 minutes when it shouldn't have been because to me it wasn't that type of a game.
"It didn't look as if they were going to muster much after we had got our goals, then it just turns it into we're throwing bodies, time added on and everything.
"But listen, that's football and you have to deal with that...big credit all over. Just a lot of big performances and a lot of people stood up in the second half, which is encouraging."
KIAN CORBALLY PRODUCES FIRST BIT OF QUALITY WHICH SPARKS FIRST GOAL?
"Yeah, and we've spoken to Kian a load about it where he's such a talent, and again, probably part of what I meant last week was, sadly, the league and particularly Ballymena fans, they do not get to see the best out of him because of the pitch.
"But he's such a good player, he's technically so good., he has goals in him, he has assists in him, and he trains like an absolute demon. He's a great young fella.
"But at times out there, he just finds it tough. It's the confidence of being able to look up from the ball as it's arriving in, which he can't do on that pitch, which very much negates his style of play.
"We've just kept at him and kept at him and kept at him...he's playing off the right today, but he pops up. I said it to him before the game, if you watch Paul Heatley, Heatley plays off the side, but always pops up in central area and tries to score goals.
"I said, ‘Kian, we don't need you out there. If the ball's in and around Igor, see if you can get in and around him’, which he did, to be fair.
"It's a good finish from Igor. People will say it's a tap in, but Igor makes the first pass to Kian and he could easily stand still and hope that Kian scores.
"He runs 15 yards thinking that something might break...that's what all good strikers do.”
IGOR HAS HAD A GREAT START TO LIFE HERE?
"He has, and as I said last week and I've said it in weeks gone by, he’s feeding off scraps, to be honest.
"And today, he hasn't had many opportunities, he hasn't had many chances, but again, that's a sign of a good striker.
"I think what he's brought to us as a team, particularly on the pitch, I guess he gives us an outlet, he gives us an ability to get up the pitch.
"He's technically a lot better than people give him credit for as well, he's good on the ground.
"He’s only 21, a long way to go, but we're happy with his progress, and if he keeps going the way he is, I think we'll be more than happy with him.”