Soccer Post - Junior Football

Kincaid signs up as Ards look to future
Junior Football News - Author: Administrator (Posted 1 year, 3 months, 12 minutes ago)

TALKING TACTICS: Tommy Kincaid chats with Ards assistant manager Justin McBride
ARDS manager Tommy Kincaid believes his four-year contract extension reflects the new-found optimism sweeping the club.
Kincaid’s side have soared to second in the Ladbrokes.com Championship following 10 wins in their last 11 league games, culminating in Saturday’s 3-2 home win over Paul Millar’s Larne.
And with their next game against Donegal Celtic looming on Easter Tuesday, followed by back-to-back meetings with high-flying Coagh United, the race for the title will likely take on a different complexion as all the pretenders to Loughgall’s crown vie for top spot.
Ards cannot avail of a place in next year’s JJB Sports Premiership however, with the homeless club unable to meet the requirements for a Domestic Licence.
The fallen North Down outfit have been labelled the nomads of the Irish League ever since their much-publicised and ignominious eviction from Castlereagh Park at the turn of the new Millennium.
Financial difficulties saw the club forced to play ‘home’ matches at derby rivals Bangor’s Clandeboye Road as well as Cliftonville’s ground at Solitude and Carrick Rangers’ home at Taylor’s Avenue.
This season, Ballyclare Comrades have agreed a groundshare deal with Kincaid’s side but a new agreement will have to be reached for next season’s Championship.
The club have been locked in talks with Ards borough council about a new stadium at Londonderry Park, a stone’s throw across the road from their spiritual home of Castlereagh Park.
Kincaid says talks regarding the mooted new home have thus far been “very positive”, and with his players in red hot form on the pitch too, insists his decision to sign a new contract couldn’t have been easier.
“From what I’ve been told, things are very positive (regarding a new ground),” said Kincaid. “I’ve just signed a new four-year contract and I’m not going to do that if I think things aren’t looking up.
“I can see a lot of potential if I keep the players that I have and things can only get better for this club.
“That’s us up to second in the league and the second part of the season has been great for us.
“We won seven in a row and then got beat by Armagh but we bounced back again and we’ve won 10 out of 11 now.
“Donegal Celtic is our next game and it’s a big, big game and then we have Coagh twice, home and away, and they are another two big games.
“It’s great to be involved at this stage of the season were things mean something.”
Ards lie just four points off pace-setters and reigning champions Loughgall.
But Kincaid can’t help ruing what might have been after his side suffered a major hangover following their Steel and Sons heroics at Seaview at Christmas.
He said: “We won the Steel and Sons Cup and we were playing well up until that and then we lost four in a row after that.
“At the end of the day, we’ll never know where we could have been if we had have taken some form into those matches.
“It took us a wee while to get back into our stride again after the Steel and Sons but I suppose it was a wee bit of an anti-climax (for the players) after winning a cup like that.”
Nevertheless, the Ards boss has heaped praise on his players who are still in contention of landing a dream double of the Steel and Sons Cup and the Championship.
Kincaid added: “The players have to take a good bit of the credit for their recent run.
This year, we have a really small squad, some of them have played an awful lot of football and with injuries and suspensions, some weeks we only have one or two on the bench.
“So to give the level of performances and the results they have produced this season has been great.
““We’re playing a lot better now, some of the best stuff since I’ve been manager, because the players we have are really good footballers.
“I brought some new players in, the likes of Darren Fitzgerald, everyone knows what he can do and he has scored some goals but you also have the likes of Paul Dickson, Kyle McCleery, James Wright, Jimmy McIlhagga, people like that who have came into the side and been absolutely outstanding.”