Former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty netted a brace for Sunderland against Gillingham in an impressive showing at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.
The 32-year-old has struggled for game time and goals over the past few seasons, partly during an unsuccessful second stint at Ibrox.
He started well after being signed from Hearts in the summer of 2018, but quickly fell down the pecking order and eventually had his contract terminated by mutual consent at the end of last season, after netting just six times.
After a brief but eventful stint in Norway with little-known Sarpsborg, he joined Sunderland on a short-term deal in January.
Manager, Phil Parkinson, has looked reluctant to deploy him at times, but after two consecutive poor results, he handed Lafferty his first league start on Saturday afternoon.
Clearly eager to take his opportunity, the Northern Ireland international was excellent on the day, scoring a diving header in the 63rd minute and cooly finishing a 1 vs 1 in the 83rd that looked likely to give his side all three points.
There was disappointment in injury time for the vast majority of the 30,000 spectators, though, as Mikael Mandron netted a 96th-minute equaliser for the visitors [BBC Sport].
Nevertheless, it was a very positive outing for the divisive former Gers star, who appears to have his mojo back after going over four months without a competitive goal.
Plenty of Bears weren’t convinced by Lafferty during his second stint in Govan, but he won six major trophies first time around, and it’s good to see him getting his career back on track.
