NATHAN Boyle admitted that he had no intention of playing football for anyone when he left Derry City back in May, but he helped to turn around Finn Harps’ season when he signed for Ollie Horgan’s team.

Boyle helped Harps to promotion in 2015, and then tried to establish himself at Derry under Kenny Shiels.

However, he left earlier this year due to frustration with a lack of opportunities.

Boyle, known affectionately as ‘Skinny’, wasn’t overly fussed about joining any club, but a phone call with Horgan’s assistant Paul Hegarty changed that.

“Higgsy rang me one day when I was sitting in the digger working away,” Boyle laughed.

“At the time when I left Derry, I had no intention of joining any club, and I think I went a month and a half without playing.

“But then I got tempted into it, and after being with Harps before, I knew what Ollie and the club were all about, so there was no adapting to do.

“It was a no-brainer then to come in and help the lads.”

Boyle has clearly been enjoying his football with Harps, and he was in the thick of the action in the second leg.

He was always a threat on the break for the visitors and thought his team played a clever game.

“I felt we were fairly comfortable in the game and we deserved it.

“We had great support there and they pushed us on, and I think you could see that with the way we played.

“We sat in when we needed to sit in and pressed when we needed to press, and it worked grand.”

Boyle scored seven goals in 13 games since re-joining the club in July and that’s an impressive record as he wasn’t always in the starting team when he first came in.

However, he came to the fore in the play-offs and played a key role in Friday night’s victory.

“I got another goal and an assist so I can’t complain.

“That’s three goals in two assists in the last four games, so I’m happy with that.

“But it’s a team effort. Everyone put it in and pushed really hard, and grafted for the full 90 minutes tonight and on Monday.

“Drogheda was no easy test either, but we came through that nicely, and we’re over the moon with our promotion.”