KILMARTIN JOINS BLUES

Former Lisburn Distillery and Glentoran midfielder, Kilmartin put pen to paper on a one-year deal on Saturday, having left Distillery at the end of the season.

Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton has already added Kris Lindsay, Robbie White and Marc Brown to his panel for next season and was delighted at the acquisition of the 29 year-old Kilmartin, who won the league with Glentoran in 2005, an experience that Hamilton says will help his new signing.

“I’ve been trying to sign Andy since the season ended,” he told the ‘MAIL’.

“He’s a very good footballer and is the type of player that I want at the club. He’s a good player but he can also put the foot in as well.

“I want to get winners into this club and Andy is a winner. He’s won the league at Glentoran and, in my view; he should be playing for a top four or five team. He wasn’t though and we’ve taken advantage of that.

“Andy was very keen to come on board with us. The set-up we have at Mourneview Park is a big plus for us when trying to get players in. Andy remembers seeing how well players are treated at the club and he wants to come and be a part of that.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton is sceptical of his chances of securing the services of 28-year-old Holland, who is also considering offers from his current club Cliftonville and Glentoran.

The defender has spent six years at Solitude and could still stay at the club but was interested in discussing terms with Hamilton, who is unsure as to the likelihood of Holland joining the Blues.

“I’m talking to Barry, who also has offers on the table from Cliftonville and Glentoran,” he said.

“We can’t compete financially with those clubs but Barry said that he would like to talk to us so we’ve put our name in the hat and we’ll wait for his response now.

“Barry probably wants to be in a team challenging for the league but he said he wanted to talk to me so I put my views across. Barry said he wanted time to consider his options so we’ll respect that and see what happens.”

Hamilton has already failed to land his primary transfer target. The mystery player, who remains nameless, has opted to stay at his current club, leaving Hamilton to look elsewhere.

The Glenavon boss said: “Unfortunately for us, he has signed a new deal with his current club, who are a top four side, challenging for honours. I have to respect his decision and he came and told me that he wanted to stay at his current club so I’ll not disrespect him or his club by naming him.

“I understand his decision. He was top of our list of people we wanted to sign but now we’ll move on to who else we can get into the club.”

And that means Hamilton’s search for fresh blood in his squad continues: “I’m still looking for a right-sided player, a centre midfielder, a striker and a centre back as well and we’re looking to get those players in over the next few weeks.

“With our budget, it’s hard to challenge for the top players in the league so we need to try and pick up players who are on the fringes and are looking to play football.”