Striker feels Championship return has came at the perfect time after joining Newington

The 28-year-old joined Newington this summer – a club that have been tracking Barr closely as he racked up an impressive goal tally in the third-tier of Northern Irish football.

He scored 17 in all competitions for Ballymacash last season as they narrowly missed out on Championship promotion in their play-off against Knockbreda while in the campaign before that contributed 13 in 19 league games at Portstewart.

Barr has played in the Championship before with Ballyclare Comrades, Limavady United and Knockbreda – but after four-and-a-half years away says now is the right time to take the leap once again.

"My most successful spell was at Limavady from January to the end of the season (in 2018),” he reflected. “I scored six or seven goals in eight or nine games and that was when the likes of Larne were pumping in a lot of money and we beat them.

"I really enjoyed that spell and with Ballyclare I was out from the start of the season for a few months because I did ligaments in my ankle. I never felt like I got a good shot at that.

"Lee Forsythe brought me to Knockbreda and I enjoyed that. I was young and wanted to play every minute - you don't like getting taken off and things like that when you're young but I learnt from that.

"It really has (came at the right time). I feel a lot fitter, stronger and I know my body a lot better than I did at that time.

"I'm a smarter player and I've matured over those five years and I feel like I can step up and do the business for Newington."

New boss Paul Hamilton knows what Barr is capable of having come up against him during the 2021/22 season when Newington won the Premier Intermediate League title.

They finished ninth in their first Championship campaign and have ambitions of jumping up the league table – something which appealed to Barr.

"He told me that (he had prior interest) and I didn't know about it at the time,” added Barr. “I was at Portstewart and played against Newington a couple of times in the PIL and they were always close games. They won the league that year and I went to Ballymacash.

"I didn't know that Conor (Crossan) and Paul were looking at me but when I spoke to them they made it clear what the club wants to do going forward and how I can be part of it.

"That's one of the reasons why I signed - they are an ambitious club, want to do well and have set out goals and targets for this season.

"One of the main targets is pushing for top-six. They finished ninth last year but want to improve on that. Hopefully we can push and make that happen.

"For myself, I want to be scoring and contributing to as many goals as I can. I feel I'm able to do that with the likes of Darren Stuart, Tiarnan McNicholl, Patrick Downey - boys like that who can play off you and assist you. I'm really looking forward to it."