Soccer

Larne ace Ronan Hale reveals another glimpse of his special goalscoring talent

Ronan Hale celebrates his first goal against Crusaders on Saturday
Ronan Hale celebrates his first goal against Crusaders on Saturday Ronan Hale celebrates his first goal against Crusaders on Saturday

LARNE ace Ronan Hale showed another sumptuous glimpse of his wonderful talent after his 35-yard rocket found the net in Saturday’s entertaining 3-3 draw with Crusaders at Seaview.

The 22-year-old found a pocket of space in-field and was already on the half turn after accepting a short pass from Josh Robinson.

With very little back lift and Crusaders keeper Gerard Doherty taken by surprise, Hale’s incredible drive found the bottom corner of the net.

Before half-time he put Larne two up after pouncing on Marty Donnelly’s free-kick that came back off the Crusaders crossbar.

Hale’s two goals showed Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter what might have been following the north Belfast striker’s ill-fated stay at Seaview.

Once on Birmingham City’s books, the youngster moved to Derry City with his elder brother Rory before moving to Crusaders.

But a lack of game-time saw the younger brother move to St Patrick’s Athletic before signing for Tiernan Lynch’s exciting team at Larne back in August.

On his wonder goal, Hale said: “It was my first attempt on goal. If you don’t shoot, you don’t score.”

The Inver Park men, who remain in second spot four points behind Linfield, squandered their two-goal advantage on Saturday.

Jamie McGonigle pulled one back for the Crues before the break and the home side were level following Chris Hegarty’s 73rd minute strike.

Johnny McMurray restored Larne’s lead on 80 minutes but Ben Kennedy levelled things up from the penalty spot late on for Crusaders.

But all the post-match talk was of Hale’s stunning opener and the infinite possibilities he offers to the Larne attack this season.

“I’m finally finding my feet and settling in and getting a place in the Larne team. Hopefully I can just stay in the team and keep doing what I’m doing,” said Hale.

“After the goal I was getting on the ball more and the confidence was flowing. There were times I mightn’t have followed in for the second goal but it was because I’d got a goal I felt another was coming.”

Hale never got a run of games to really prove his worth in a very successful Crusaders team, and while he learned a lot about another way of winning games, he feels Larne’s passing game will yield more goal chances for him.

“When I signed for Derry City we were a passing team and I got goals. St Pat’s were a passing team as well and I got a few goals there. At Crusaders, it was more back to front. I learned a different type of game at Crusaders, how to win. I won the Irish Cup and the Co Antrim Shield in my first year with them and I learned from the experience of the boys I played with. It’s all learning curves…

“I always think everything happens for a reason. Maybe the Crusaders move didn’t work out but it opened other doors for me and allowed me to go down south. And now I’m in a full-time environment with Larne I’m enjoying it.

“I think there is a lot more to come from me. I just needed to get my confidence back and get up to full speed,” said the 22-year-old Newington native.

“I’ve always said it everywhere I’ve gone: you need games to gain confidence, you just can’t be in for one or two games and if you don’t do the business you’re out again for two games. You need that four or five games and if you’re not doing the business then you can come out of the team.

“Playing under Tiernan [Lynch] is class, he just gives you the freedom to express yourself.”

Hale also feels much safer since weekly Covid testing for Premiership players and staff was introduced.

“We were tested on Thursday and all the results came back within 20 minutes. So we knew there and then the game was on. It was very good.

“We’ll be tested every Thursday. This is our main job, especially the full-time players, and you obviously want to continue to work and to do so you have to be tested regularly. You have to know what other teams are doing too because I’m obviously going home to my young daughter and my Granda as well and you need to know that it’s a safe environment.”

Meanwhile, Andy Waterworth grabbed four goals in Linfield's 6-0 hammering of Warrenpoint Town to remain in pole position, while Coleraine posted their fourth straight win in the Premier with a 2-0 win over Dungannon Swifts to move into fifth.