We still have an outside chance of winning the Gibson Cup, says Linfield boss David Healy as Jordan Stewart returns following injury

The 28-year-old may have only been introduced for the final 15 minutes, but it ended a nightmare journey that dated back to January 2023.

Although Healy’s boys had the game wrapped up long before Stewart’s arrival, he still showed little flashes of trickery and brilliance that has made him such a pivotal figure among the home supporters.

First half goals from Kyle McClean, who bagged two, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Kirk Millar – from the penalty spot – had the Blues out of sight by half-time.

Skipper Jamie Mulgrew and 16-year-old Braiden Graham – he was only on the pitch for two minutes – piled on the agony after the restart against a side that looks doomed to relegation.

In contrast, the victory helped Healy’s boys keep the pressure on title holders Larne at the top of the Sports Direct Premiership table – they still trail Tiernan Lynch’s men by two points with six games remaining.

“Although, we may we only two points behind, that’s still a long way off at this stage,” said the former Northern Ireland international striker.

“We understand we still have a small outside chance (of the title), but we’ll keep fighting to see where that takes us over the next few weeks.

“Credit to the players. I’m relying on a small group, so the pressure is on for them to deliver every week. A majority of the times this season, they have performed and played well.

“We’ve been successful in the BetMcLean Cup; we’ve an Irish Cup semi-final coming up and we are still in with a shout of the League title, albeit Larne are still big favourites. We still have a lot to play for.”

Healy admits it’s a boost having Stewart back in the group after such a long period away from the game.

“Jordan has had a dark time over the past year,” he added. “He’s played a few games in and around the Swifts, he’s still catching up in terms of his match fitness. It’s going to take little bit of time.

“The way the match panned out, it gave me the opportunity to give him a bit of game time. He did a few little tricks to keep the fans happy . . . he’s still a massive favourite with the supporters, I think we saw that with the reception he received.

“Jordan has been at the club for a long time; there is a reason why he is so popular. He’s done a heck of a lot and had produced some big moments for he football club.”

Healy believes it’s now down to the critical stage of the League campaign.

“It’s important we try and maximise the points available,” he went on. “When we go into the split, there are going to be a lot of competitive games. It’s going to be hugely competitive.

“We were very good in periods against Newry. We knew approaching the match, Newry were scrapping for their lives. They had a good win at Carrick last week, so that gave them some sort of platform coming here.

“The earlier we broke them down the better. Obviously, the game was done and dusted by half time, but my question to the players was, could you perform better than you did in the first half?

“I don’t know whether we did or not, but we certainly done enough in the second half, we had enough opportunities to run up a bigger margin. I can’t complain, we scored six, kept a clean sheet and got three points. We also managed to get a few fresh legs into the side.”