Ballymena United announce signing of Newry City striker Ryan McNickle

BALLYMENA United have signed Newry City striker Ryan McNickle on a two year deal.

The 25-year joins the Showgrounds set-up when his City contract expires.

News that the much sought after front man, who netted 20 goals in the Playr-Fit Championship last season, was announced on the Ballymena United website.

The previous season he bagged 15 for Premier Intermediate League side Lisburn Distillery.

Now he gets the chance to shine in the Irish Premiership.

And he is looking forward to proving himself at the highest level.

“I'm delighted to be here,” McNickle the Sky Blue website.

“When the opportunity to play Premiership football came about, it was an easy decision. I've shown in my career I can score goals at every level I've played at and I'm confident I can do the same in the Premiership.”

When asked why he chose The Showgrounds for his next step, McNickle stressed it was an easy call.

“It was a no brainer. This is a big club that has visions of success and hopefully I can assist it in that,” he said.

Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin is thrilled to have secured the striker’s services.

“Ryan has grabbed a lot of headlines at Newry and his numbers in a highly competitive Championship, playing for a club who struggled, speak for themselves,” outlined Ervin.

“He's a determined kid wanting to prove himself at this level. He could've chose other routes but he sees what we're looking to do here. He came on the radar last year at Lisburn, took the step up to Newry and continued his impressive goal scoring record. We've seen it's something we maybe don't have a lot of in the squad, so we're delighted to get him.”