Annagh United defender Jordan Campbell accepts promotion push is big surprise to many

Jordan Campbell has experienced all the ups and downs since joining Annagh in 2013 but he never believed the club would be challenging for promotion to the Irish Premiership.

The defender moved the Mid Ulster cub from Seagoe in 2013 as a 17-year-old with all but one season – the 2016/17 campaign in which they finished rock bottom of the Championship – spent in the third tier.

Annagh are second in the Championship, just four points off leaders Newry, with Campbell telling Match on Tuesday: “I have gone through all the emotions at Annagh with promotions and relegations – but nobody would have predicted us to be here now.

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“We won promotion to the Championship in 2016 and it was a bit of a disaster as we went straight back down and in the years after that we went down to the bare bones.

“The boss Ciaran McGurgan has assembled a really strong and competitive squad – the squad we have now compared to a few years ago is really night and day.

“To even be in the position that we are now is incredible – but we are where we are because of the belief.”

Campbell was one of five goal scorers for McGurgan’s side in Saturday’s comprehensive 5-2 win over Dundela.

Annagh’s 67 goals in the Championship this season is at least seven more than any other side and means their averaging goals per game has now crept up to over two each match.

“The goals are spread across the team and all of the outfield players believe they can score,” the 25-year-old added.

“We have a long-throw routine that we do through Craig Taylor and that is something that has worked a lot for us as a means to create chances.

“But when you have players like Stephen Murray and