Ballinamallard Utd saw their five point advantage over second from bottom Warrenpoint Town trimmed back to four points following defeat to Ballymena Utd at Ferney Park today.

With Warrenpoint picking up a point against Portadown it leaves it all to play for with the league now splitting for the final five games and Mallards boss Whitey Anderson is aware that they are in a battle for survival.

"We are definitely in a dogfight now as Warrenpoint closed the gap by a point," he said. "I can't fault the commitment of the players out there, they gave as lot of commitment and drive but that doesn't always win you matches."

And the Mallards boss was disappointed with the discipline of some of his players who are now nearing a suspension with the season at a vital period.

"I said to the players that sometimes you have got to use your head more. We've players coming up to suspensions and what disappoints me is there is serious lack of self discipline and we have spoken to some players about it and we'll deal with it," he added.

It was the away side who got off to a flying start as they took the lead with only five minutes on the clock through a thunderbolt from Mark Surgenor. The ball was laid off to the Ballymena midfielder 25 yards from goal and he rocketed a shot that flew past Mallards goalkeeper Stefan McCusker and into the top corner of the net.

The home side struggled to find any rhythm in the early stages of the contest but they settled midway through the half and began to push for an equaliser.

Mark Stafford headed wide from a Davy Kee corner while Johnny Lafferty appeared to slip when about to pull the trigger in the box.

Anderson's charges also had a penalty shout when Stafford went down in the box from a corner but referee Steven Gregg waved away the appeals of the home outfit.

The equaliser though did arrive four minutes before the break as Liam Martin grabbed his seventh goal of the season.

Jason McCartney's corner broke to the striker and he swivelled and shot low to the corner to make it 1-1.

And the Mallards were close to taking the lead in added on time at the end of the first half as James McKenna got on the end of a McCartney free kick but his header was cleared off the line as the game remained level at the interval.

Ballymena were inches away from retaking the lead early in the second half when Johnny Taylor got to the ball ahead of McCusker but his header rolled agonisingly wide of the post.

With 20 minutes to go though Glenn Ferguson's side did regain the advantage. Stafford gave away a needless free kick at the corner of the box and Neal Gawley clipped a fine effort over the wall and in at the near post.

And the result was put beyond doubt deep in added on time at the end of the game as substitute Matthew Tipton raced on to an Allan Jenkins through ball before lifting the ball over McCusker to leave it 1-3 at the finish.