Paul McElroy and Ciaran Kelly have signed for Ballymena United to round off a busy few days of transfer activity at The Showgrounds.

McElroy joins the club from Crusaders on a two-year contract as part of an exchange deal which sees Adam Lecky go in the opposite direction. The 26-year-old striker spent last season at Seaview, scoring five times in 21 outings across all competitions.

Before that McElroy, a former Northern Ireland U21 international, was a regular for Dungannon Swifts for several years while, earlier in his career, was on the books of Portadown, Linfield and Hull City.

Kelly, 22, arrives from League of Ireland club Bohemians on a loan deal initially lasting until January. The centre-half can also count St. Patrick's Athletic and Drogheda United amongst his former clubs.

Speaking about both signings, Sky Blues manager David Jeffrey told the club website: "We tried to sign Paul when he was at Dungannon, and are absolutely delighted to get him here now.

"He plays with great pace and gives another dimension to our attack. He meets the profile of player we are aiming to attract here, young, energetic and eager to prove what he can achieve at the highest of levels.

"Ciaran comes highly recommended to us following his time at Drogheda, St Patricks and Bohemians, and at this moment it is a situation that suits all parties.

"He's tall, commending, good left foot, pacey and certainly will help us as we face the challenges of a new season."