Liggett hopes Seaview winner can spell change in his fortunes

Gary Liggett hopes that scoring Ballymena United’s winning goal in Saturday’s victory at Crusaders can be the catalyst to kick-start his career at the club.
Gary Liggett celebrates his dramatic winning goal in Saturday's win over Crusaders. Picture: Press Eye.Gary Liggett celebrates his dramatic winning goal in Saturday's win over Crusaders. Picture: Press Eye.
Gary Liggett celebrates his dramatic winning goal in Saturday's win over Crusaders. Picture: Press Eye.

The striker has endured a difficult time at the Showgrounds since his January move from Lisburn Distillery and any hopes of a fresh start to the new campaign lay in tatters after he was hauled off at half-time in the previous weekend’s defeat by Glenavon.

Fast forward seven days and Liggett was the toast of the travelling Ballymena fans after his stunning last minute strike gave the Sky Blues their first victory at Seaview since 2005.

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“There are times in football where one week you can have a bad game, the next you can be on top of the world,” said Gary.

“When you get taken off at half-time you don’t get a chance to redeem yourself in the second half and you get very frustrated sitting in the changing room on your own.

“Strikers can be terrible for 89 minutes and then can score and it can change everything - that’s the way it goes when you play that position.

“As a striker you know you’re going to miss chances - you won’t score every one - but you have to keep getting yourself into the positions.

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“For the goal, Alan (Davidson) got the ball in the deep, there was a lot of space in behind, Davy Magowan stretched a leg out but it was beyond him. I could have probably taken a touch but it was there to be hit. Strikers work on instinct - sometimes when you have too much time to think about it, you can overdo it.

“Sometimes you can score great goals but when you’re 3-0 down it doesn’t matter so much - it was probably more important in terms of giving everyone a lift and helping push what happened last week to the back of people’s minds.

“I went away over summer and I think I’ve worked harder than anybody. I’ve tried to lose a bit of weight and get myself sharper.

“I feel fitter in myself, it’s just a question of getting the confidence - most strikers are confidence players.

Sometimes when you get a goal it can change everything.

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“It’s about the team. I had a bad game, Glenn had to make changes and he was exactly right to do it.

“Everybody wants to play but there are games when the manager will take you out of the firing line and you then have to come on and make an impact.

“It’s a 38-game season and there are times when you’re going to play and other where you just have to suck it up and accept it and try to make a difference if you come on.

“I don’t set myself targets of numbers of goals - I just want to score as many as I can and hopefully help the team push on and finish in the top six,” added Liggett.