The Linfield fan was correct in his summing up of the game, but it was his beloved Blues who “put up the show” against a Ballinamallard side who matched the Premier league side in every department.

    Ballinamallard were by no means overawed by the occasion, and rightly so! The home side had won a trophy last season and were playing on their own pitch!

    Ballinamallard started well, Gary Bownes showed his silky skills in the Linfield box before unleashing a tremendous effort which came off Andy Hunter and out for a corner.

    As the game settled, interesting battles were materialising all over the park, Glenn Ferguson and Bob Carroll had a few robust aerial exchanges, while, the impressive Paul Williamson shackled Linfield new boy Paul Dalglish.

    The visitors, for all their experience and skill, were very disappointing, they lacked the killer pass.

    Ballinamallard, to their credit, put the pressure on their opponents at every opportunity, they closed their midfield down very well and limited Linfield skipper, Noel Baillie, to long range efforts, which Gareth Liggett and Carroll mopped up comfortably.

    The home side carved open a great chance to take the lead after 25 minutes, Conor McGuigan skipped past Pat McShane on the right flank, his hard driven pass wasn’t cleared by Linfield. Bownes had an effort blocked by the outstanding ‘Winky’ Murphy, the ball fell for Nicky Noble who shot wide from six yards.

    Dalglish began to show some neat touches, his lay offs were sharp and accurate, as Pedro Delgado, at full-back, gave his side good width on the right wing.

    Liggett made a last ditch tackle to deny Davy Larmour a shot on goal, the same player having Linfield’s first real strike on goal after 37 minutes.

    Ballinamallard would have been happy with a scoreless draw at half-time, the visitors, on the other hand, looked very lethargic, coming down from the dizzy heights of playing Glasgow Rangers in midweek, was obviously having an affect on David Jeffrey’s side.

    The Blues manager kept his side on the Ferney Park pitch for his half-time team talk, it certainly had the desired effect. Linfield came out for the second period with a much better attitude.

    They increased the pace of the game and improved their passing.

    Ballinamallard introduced Shane O’Brien and Simon Douglas for the second half, while the below par Dalglish and Morgan left the Linfield side.

    It was the home side replacements who made the first contribution, and should have scored. Bownes released McGuigan on the left wing, his back post cross was headed into the six yard box by Douglas, big O’Brien headed against the crossbar, with Linfield keeper Alan Manus beaten.

    At the other end, a wonderful turn by Ferguson gave him a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box, his half-blocked effort gathered by Chris Breen, with Baillie loitering with intent.

    The improved Linfield performance finally got its reward after 66 minutes; a good spell of possession football resulted in Larmour releasing substitute Mark Picking. The pace winger danced past Williamson before being brought down by Liggett in the box. Stylish full-back Pat McShane made no mistake from the spot.

    Linfield continued to hold the upper hand, but some fine goalkeeping from Breen and excellent defending kept them at bay.

    O’Brien brought the best out of Manus, when he pulled in a good cross destined for the head of Douglas. O’Brien then hit the crossbar with a header after a good move. Breen denied Ferguson from close range as the resolute home side held out for a very respectable 1-0 defeat.

    In a way, both sides will be happy with the result and performances.

    Ballinamallard manager Harry McConkey can be very content with his team’s level of fitness and the manner in which they passed the ball at times.

    David Jeffrey knows he has a lot of work to do, perhaps pre-season friendlies are not a great yard-stick, but apart from the outstanding ‘Winky’ Murphy and the pace of Picking, Linfield were disappointing. With only two weeks to the big kick-off, the success starved Linfield supporters could be calling for Jeffrey to receive the first award of the season, O.B.E. – out before Easter!