Ballymena Utd's Sean Graham back in the Sky Blue groove after asking DJ: What's the craic?

After asking David Jeffrey ‘what’s the craic’ on his return from the States, Sean Graham is relishing being back in the thick of an Irish Cup run with Ballymena United.

Graham, who spent the second half of last season with the Showgrounds club, returned to the Sky Blue fold in December after a short spell in Baltimore.

And the versatile 21-year-old is eager to make up for lost time with a top-six finish in the league and Irish Cup to target in the second half of the campaign.

“I decided to go to university in America and try it out because it was always in the back of my mind to go there,” said Graham of his recent flirtation with the States.

“Unfortunately it didn’t work out. It wasn’t what I thought it was and I returned home. I wanted to get back into football but I wasn’t sure of my situation at Ballymena.

“I thought my contract had maybe been terminated so I phoned David up to see what the craic was and thankfully I was still contracted to the club.

“David took me in with open arms and I’m really grateful to him for taking me back. I was really happy to be able to return to Ballymena.”

Graham, who spent six months with Larne on loan from Blackpool in 2019, played 17 times for United last season and started in a 3-0 defeat to Linfield in the Irish Cup semi-finals.

The Blues dominated the last-four tie at Mourneview Park in May and went on to beat Larne 2-1 in the showpiece at the same Lurgan venue three days later.

Ahead of Saturday’s last-16 tie with Portstewart at the Showgrounds, Graham said: “We reached the semis last season and unfortunately didn’t perform on the night.

“Take nothing away from Linfield - they were very good and Shayne Lavery and Joel Cooper were unbelievable - but we didn’t really get going.

“We