‘We have to build on this now’ - Kearney

The Bannsiders produced a performance full of character and spirit to beat the champions Cliftonville in their own back yard.

After back-to-back defeats at Crusaders and Glentoran which saw the Bannsiders board release a statement saying they were ‘concerned’ with the results, Kearney was delighted with the response his charges showed.

“I have a great board behind me,” he said after the game.

“I fully understand the statement that came out. I know I’m in a results based business.

“But I’m also a realist and I’m quite real about where we are financially and what we can do with it. However, I’m also quite real that we can still win games and be competitive with all those other issues off the pitch.

“I’ve no doubt that we can put a good team out on the pitch and win games just as we did against Cliftonville.

“A lot has been said and written about this team recently but they answered a lot of that here.

“It can be difficult for players to relax like that when they’re under pressure or when things are being said and written about them, but coming to Solitude and playing the way we did speak volumes.

“Even more important is that we build on this as no-one will care about it in two weeks time. We’ve set ourselves a standard that we need to maintain.”