Paul Kee happy to be 'back on track' as H&W Welders return to Championship summit

Coming off a shock 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Limavady United last weekend, the Welders made a rapid start at Inver Park with Tiarnan O’Connor and 21-year-old Kee giving them a two-goal advantage inside four minutes before the latter struck a second soon after.

With Bangor losing 4-0 away to Ballinamallard United and both Limavady and Dundela also falling to defeat against Ballyclare Comrades and Armagh City respectively, the result helped Kee’s men reassert themselves at the top after one full round of fixtures.

"The most important thing was to get back on track after last Saturday...it was a disappointing result and performance,” he reflected on the club’s media channel. “The players did that magnificently and the way we started the game was immense and two good finishes in the first five minutes from Tiarnan and Josh really set us up nicely.

"We went about our business quite well. We always try to start with intent and we've been a bit disappointed with how we've started games recently. We warned them about it and they were excellent.

"We tackled with intent and got at their goal and I'm really pleased for the two boys because they work hard and take their football very seriously."

Kee handed former Linfield midfielder Daniel Kearns, who also won two Premiership titles with Larne, his maiden league start since arriving at Blanchflower Park this summer while ex-Crusaders forward Brandon Doyle made a first start since scoring a hat-trick against Ballyclare in August.

"We changed it up tactically a bit,” he added. “Kearnsy has been training well and we looked at a few things on Thursday night and we were happy to start him in there.

"He's good with the ball and he's getting used to this league after seeing what it's about so he was defending well today too. Credit to him. It's good to have Doyler back because he's experienced at this level and him and Tiarnan did well today."