Ballinamallard midfielder James McKenna know’s just how important last Saturday’s win over Ballymena was in the relegation battle at the foot of the table.
The Mallards went into the game without a league win since October and another defeat would have been a hard blow to recover from. 
However, the Ferney Park side produced their best performance of the season in the 4-2 win and can now face into some important games this month with renewed vigour and confidence.
“There was a lot of pressure going into the game on Saturday because we knew we had to get a win but I think the new signings gave everybody a lift at training during the week and it was a great result for us,” said McKenna. “We spoke before the game about how important the next four games are for us as they are against teams in the bottom half of the table and those are games that we have to target taking points from, especially as the teams around us are picking up points. We have a massive game against Warrenpoint now next Friday night and we have to back up the performance against Ballymena.”
Ivan Sproule and Stephen O’Flynn both made home debuts for the Mallards on Saturday and McKenna says that the new faces are helping push everybody on.
“The boys that have been brought in are quality players and they have integrated straight away with the group. You can see at training that they are helping everybody raise their gameand it is bringing a lot of competition for places,” he added.
McKenna, who has been tasked with captaining the side on a number of occasions this season when Steve Feeney has been missing, is having his most productive campaign in terms of goals.
“It was something John Quinn spoke to me about before Christmas, he felt that I had goals in me but I suppose it depends on my position. When Shane’s in alongside me and playing the deeper role I have the opportunity to go forward more and get into the box and it is something that I’ve been asked to do. If I could get a couple more before the end of the season I would be happy,” he stated.
And this season he has the opportunity of playing alongside his good friend Shane McCabe in the middle of the park.
"Obviously, Shane’s quality and we all know what he brings to the team but it is listening to him is the hard part," laughed McKenna. "No, he is somebody you want in the team and playing beside you on a Saturday."