Title win vindicates Hall’s decision to return home

BEN Hall believes his decision to return home and join Linfield after engineering his departure from Falkirk has been vindicated after he helped the ‘Blues’ to a 56th league title on Saturday.

The commanding centre-half scored the opening goal during the 2-0 home win over Coleraine on Saturday that secured their fourth Gibson Cup in a row.

And he admits there was no better time to register his first goal for his new club.

“It was unbelievable to score my first goal in that situation. It’s a cliche, I know, but it’s the stuff you dream about to score such a big goal on such a big occasion!,” he beamed.

“It’s been coming for a few weeks and people kept telling me I was due a goal. It’s been a long time coming but thankfully it came at the right time!”

Ahead of what was a Danske Bank Premiership title shoot-out between Linfield and Cliftonville, who travelled to Glentoran on Saturday, centre-half Hall admits there was plenty of pressure on them to complete the job.

“There was pressure and nerves and all the usual things with so much at stake,” he said.

“You didn’t want to think about coming out on the other side with nothing to show for it and you could feel it in the stadium at the time, the nerves and tension and I think Cliftonville had gone 1-0 up before I scored.

“That added to the tension but when my goal went in it erupted and all the tension was released and when we got another goal straight after that it killed the game off.”

Omagh man Hall only joined Linfield on transfer deadline day and he’s delighted that David Healy has shown faith in him to play a big part in their run to the title, especially with their defence being the meanest in the division.

“They have conceded the least amount of goals in the league this season, and I think that’s probably what won the league for Linfield this season, so I think we can all take massive credit for that,” he said.

“Coming in when I did in January when they were top of the league I obviously didn’t expect to go straight in and start every week. I knew I’d have to bide my time to earn the gaffer’s trust and the players, so I’m glad I’ve done that and I’ve been able to play a big part in winning it.”

Having made his debut as a teenager for Motherwell before moving to Brighton, a loan at Notts County and spells at Partick Thistle and Falkirk, Hall is delighted to have signed permanently for Linfield and he’s relishing the preparation for next season and a Champions League qualifying campaign.

“It’s unbelievable to win the league and when I was coming home there were a few clubs interested but Linfield is the biggest in the country and win a lot of titles and a lot of trophies and coming home that is something I wanted to be a part of and I’m glad I have my first one which I hope is the first of many,” he beamed.

“And then we have to start preparing for the Champions League qualifiers which is another reason why I wanted to come home to play in occasions like that. They are massive games, and some of the teams you can get drawn against give you the chance to showcase yourself, so yeah, it’s another thing on the list of reasons why I wanted to sign for Linfield.”