Jackie Kerr hailed the “togetherness” of his squad as his decimated Ards Rangers head into the last six games of the season still clinging to an outside chance of the title.
A 3-1 win at Islandmagee on Saturday, coupled with dropped points by the two clubs at the top – the East were held to a goalless draw at Crumlin United while Larne Tech completed a league double over Crumlin Star – breathed new life into their hopes of an unlikely coronation come May.
Unlikely, because two recent defeats to relegation battlers 1st Bangor and Killyleagh seemed to have extinguished those hopes, and also because Kerr has been jinxed by long-term injuries, with his strikers Michael Hunter and James Sofley out all season with ACLs, fellow forwards Ben Roy (pelvis) and Aaron Dunlop (knee) also missing the majority of the campaign, while Taylor Kirk (ankle) and Gary Browne (ankle) – both brought in to ease the loss of Jamie Patterson, himself hit with a whopping 13-game ban following an Irish Cup tie at Greenisland – also both now out for the season.
