Irish Premiership: Five takeaways from weekend’s action

With so much to play for throughout the Irish Premiership, it is no surprise that there have already been plenty of announcements since the January transfer window opened on Thursday.

Oran Kearney has wasted no time during his first transfer window as Ballymena boss and, after announcing trio Dean Ebbe, Zach Nolan and Igor Rutkowski in December, Sean Murray has now joined the club.

Bangor have signed the experienced Stephen Fallon on loan from Coleraine, while Brandon Bermingham has returned to Dungannon Swifts following his spell at Cliftonville to add to the midfield options at Stangmore Park.

After a busy summer market for Coleraine, Ruaidhri Higgins has continued the pattern into this window. Former Derry City captain Mark Connolly and Portadown’s Ben Wylie have signed for the Bannsiders, with both players’ time in a blue and white shirt not getting off to the best of starts after making their debuts in Friday’s loss to Larne.

A challenging task lies ahead for Michael O’Connor if he is going to stop Glenavon from being relegated to the Championship for the first time since 2004. They have added Gavin Gilmore from Finn Harps to their ranks, but have also lost Francely Lomboto, David McDaid, Bridel Bosakani and Corey Smith, so it is set to be a busy few weeks for the Lurgan Blues.

David Healy said going into the window that he would “look more in-house at more people coming back” and that his side “are not going to sign for the sake of” it and they have, so far, had a quiet January.

Kenzie Beattie is the only returnee to the Blues after a spell at Premier Intermediate side Ballymacash Rangers, although they did move last month to tie the likes of Kirk Millar, Kyle McClean and Ben Hall to new contracts.

Portadown have made an impressive addition in Josh Carson from Ballymena United. However, the loss of Wylie to Coleraine will hurt, while Ryan Mayse has joined Dergview, so Niall Currie will have to search for a new source of goals before the window slams shut at the end of the month.