Mikhail Kennedy 'honoured' to be part of Institute title challenge

​The striker was walking his dog on the morning of Crusaders' NIFL Charity Shield Final against Larne before making the trip to Inver Park last July when he crossed paths with Kevin Deery's young side who were in the midst of their pre-season schedule.

Kennedy admits he was counting his blessings that he wasn't amongst them, predicting another difficult relegation battle for the Brandywell based outfit as he concentrated on a campaign with the north Belfast side in the Irish Premiership.

Little did he know that he would be chasing the top goalscorer accolade for Deery's troops and vying for the Playr-fit Championship title just eight months later! Now he says it's 'an honour' to be part of this Institute team who have defied the odds.

"I scored against 'Stute this time last season for Dergview in the split," reflected Kennedy. "They just couldn't get a win. This year was about staying up basically.

"I remember seeing them in July running around Ballyarnett while I was walking my dog and I was going to play in the Charity Shield Final for Crusaders that day and thinking; 'thank God I'm not out with them. Look at them out running in July ahead of a relegation battle'."Looking back and reflecting on that now you could see they were building that togetherness at that early stage and that togetherness has been paramount this season. That's why we can go to the likes of Bangor on a Wednesday night and stand firm for each other. So it's an absolute honour to be a part of it now."Getting big goals for them, you saw what it meant to us last night. It's the amount of sacrifice we've put in this season. This isn't a one or two man job, this is everybody!"

His 62nd minute header from Danny Lafferty's inswinging free-kick clinched a precious win against Bangor on Wednesday night as 'Stute made it two wins on the road in the space of four days to keep alive their hopes of winning the title.

"What a ball from Danny and when you get across the defender you always have a chance at the near post. The last two away wins against Welders and Bangor, two top six teams - that's massive.

"Two really tough games but it was the resilience from the boys defensively . . . they didn't give up many chances. Gareth [Muldoon] in nets was unbelievable these last couple of games especially after the Portadown game where the heads could easily have dropped losing the game in that manner. The way they performed has been brilliant and it sets us up with a good chance to go for it in the split."

Amazingly, after 33 games Institute - who have been battling against the drop for the past two seasons - have almost equalled the points tally amassed in the previous two years [67]! It's an incredible turnaround of fortunes.

Wednesday's victory leaves them just three points behind second placed Portadown who they meet in Shamrock Park on the final game of the season - a potential title decider!

Dundela lead the pack going into the final five post-split fixtures but the East Belfast men have no Premiership licence for 2024/25.

Kennedy insists 'Stute will take it one game at a time in the hope they remain in the title race going into that last match of the campaign.

First up they meet Limavady United in the North West Senior Cup Final at Brandywell on Saturday [kick-off 3pm] and the striker, who has scored nine goals in 13 matches in all competitions since his January signing, believes silverware could be a springboard for league title success and promotion.

"It's easy to get carried away and look at that Portadown game on the last day of the season. You could be going there to win the league. But it's that old cliche, one game at a time and that's the way it has to be.

"It's the games against teams like Annagh and Welders who probably won't challenge for the league but that makes them dangerous and we know how difficult Tuesday night will bve."I think the fixtures actually worked out well for us. If we win on Tuesday it sets us up for a big game against Dundela. That will be tough."We're after Portadown and we said at the start of the season if you finish above Portadown you'll likely win the league.

"Of course that will be in the back of your mind [having the chance to win the league at Portadown]. While we will take it one game at a time, you're allowed to get excited as well. A lot of boys have been in relegation battles this last number of years. They're allowed to enjoy it."

First up is that chance to get a winners' medal at Brandywell on Saturday.

"We've got the North West cup final on Saturday against Limavady who are going for the league. It's probably a welcome distraction. It's a cup final and it could give us a platform and that feeling of winning senior trophies. It's come at the right time and our full focus is on trying to win a trophy and getting a medal which would lead us nicely onto Tuesday.

"It's a massive week of three games."