Tiernan Lynch praises Larne ace who 'makes things happen' after key role in Premiership victory over Linfield
Conor McKendry was identified this summer as a player that could help take defending Premiership champions Larne to another level and although he has had to bide his time for opportunities upon an Inver Park return, a winning goal in their victory over Linfield may help spark the talented attacker who “makes things happen” into life.
It was Matty Lusty that did the hard work as the Inver Reds collected their first league win of the season – and handed Linfield a maiden defeat – by running free, cutting inside and unleashing a shot which Chris Johns palmed away, but McKendry was in the right place at the right time to mark a first strike since joining from Coleraine in June.
The 25-year-old, who previously spent time on the books of Ipswich Town, is fresh off the best campaign of his career, netting 12 league goals last term for the Bannsiders, but after starting in both legs of Larne’s Champions League defeat to RFS, McKendry didn’t play a single minute in their remaining four European games as Lynch’s men created Irish League history by qualifying for the Conference League.
He’s also began the last two Premiership matches on the bench, but made his biggest impact yet at Windsor Park this weekend and Lynch says McKendry was brought back to the County Antrim club for a specific reason.
"We were very specific in bringing someone like Conor McKendry into our team,” he said. “When we reflected on last season we felt we were very one dimensional...we had lots of legs and energy but when teams got deeper against us we didn’t necessarily have players like Conor who can open the door for you single-handedly.
"Conor has probably been impatient at times because when you go to Europe nine times out of ten you’re without the ball and Conor wouldn’t be known for his defensive duties – he gets the ball and makes things happen.
“That’s what we’re trying to do – build a team and squad that can challenge in the league, can go as far as we can in cup competitions and give a good account of ourselves in the league and Europe.”
Despite being only three games into their Gibson Cup title defence, Lynch knew the significance of closing the gap on David Healy’s Blues, who will likely be their closest challengers once again, and says they couldn’t have afforded to lose.
"It’s a massive, massive result,” he added. “We talked about it during the week that even a draw was no good for us today, which is utter madness when you think that’s only our third game into the season.
"It’s probably the first time in a while where we got to have a four-day lead into a game and we got a lot of really good work done. There’s still a lot going on in this team and squad because you’ve so many games...we play Tuesday again, Friday, Tuesday, Friday – trying to juggle that, we as a group, both management and players, have been talking about how these are unknown territories for us and unknown seas we’re sailing in.
"We’ll probably make mistakes like we do at times, but it’s about how quickly we can find a sweet spot and today I thought for that team...we weren’t dominant from start to finish but I thought we were solid."