Special praise for experienced Irish League star as brace salvages point after first half 'disgrace'

King’s men found themselves 3-0 behind after only 23 minutes at The Showgrounds on Saturday as teenage striker Sam Sproule – the son of former Northern Ireland international Ivan – netted a quickfire hat-trick.

The Newry chief responded by making two substitutions after 30 minutes and another pair at half-time as the hosts chased the game, and the introduction of Carville certainly made an impact.

Georgie Poynton’s penalty gave Newry a lifeline before Carville struck in both the 85th and 98th minutes to rescue a point in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Carville, who previously spent time on the books of Ballymena United, is enjoying his fourth spell as a Newry player after returning to the club from Banbridge Town ahead of the current campaign.

The 35-year-old has scored three goals in his eight Premier Intermediate League appearances to help Newry sit level on points with leaders Moyola Park as they target an immediate Championship return.

“I have a lot of time for him,” King told the club’s media channel. “He has been outstanding.

"He wanted to be here for the right reasons. He makes a difference when he comes on. He knows he’s not going to play 90 minutes every week but he knows his role.

"He has made a difference the last three or four weeks. He has led the line, won headers and is effective in both boxes. I have a lot of time for him.

"I can see he’s going to be a coach in the future. He just has to keep going and keep delivering.

"He wants this club to be successful and I want him to be a part of it.”

King was left furious with Newry’s first half performance, but praised their character for fighting back to claim a point and extend the club’s unbeaten league run to six matches.

"Massive credit to Dergview,” he added. “They came here, were honest as hell, set-up really well, played the ball in behind us and we couldn’t deal with it.

"First half was unacceptable, it was a disgrace. After 25 minutes we were 3-0 down and it could have been more.

"I’ll take full responsibility for that, I’m not blaming my lads at all, I blame myself because I should have had them in.

"I put trust in them, they didn’t train yesterday (Boxing Day), I could have had them in like most other clubs did and I’ll accept that.

"Credit where credit is due, I went in at half-time and sorted it. We went more direct, people who came on made a massive difference.

"I brought two players off after half-an-hour, I could have brought off 11. There was nobody at it...I’ll take responsibility.

"I’m delighted with a point because we genuinely didn’t deserve anything, the game should have been out of sight at half-time.

"They keep driving forward, keep getting results, we’re still undefeated in a long time...it’s a big point for us.”