Ballinamallard manager Gavin Dykes has made his first two new signings of the summer with goalkeeper James McGrath and attacker Shane McGinty both set to sign for the upcoming season.
Shane McGinty will arrive from Institute where he scored 20 league goals last season. The prolific goal scorer can play just off the main striker or out wide and finished last season in a rich vein of form that saw him win the Championship player of the month award. He almost broke Ballinamallard hearts last month when he scored from 20 yards to put Institute 3-2 ahead in the second leg of the relegation play off at Ferney Park, and the Mallards fans will be hoping he can bring goals to a front line further weakened by the departure of Ryan Campbell to Dergview last week. Gavin Dykes is confident McGinty can play an important role this season, having worked with him as a youth player at Sligo Rovers. McGinty then spent three seasons at Finn Harps before moving to Coleraine and then to Institute last season.
James McGrath is also set to re-join Ballinamallard, having last played for the team in 2013. The goalkeeper was understudy to Alvin Rouse during his previous spell at the club, but moved on after failing to make himself a regular in the first team. He made a surprise move to Glenavon in 2014, and went on to win the Irish Cup with the Lurgan team, but lost his place after they signed former Northern Ireland international Alan Blayney at the end of that campaign. Although he stayed at the club the following year he only made a few first team appearances, but is now stake a claim for the number one jersey at Ballinamallard.
Manager Gavin Dykes is hopeful that there will be further new faces arriving at the club in the coming days as he prepares for the start of the new season. “Hopefully by the end of the week I will have another signing and another one on loan as well,” said the manager. “By Friday or Saturday we will have a few new faces in there.”
In addition to the newcomers, the club have also successfully renewed the contracts of Stefan McCusker, Jason McCartney, Davy Elliott and Ryan Morris this week as the squad begins to take shape. Pre-season training got underway last Thursday, a mere fifteen days after the final game of last season, and Gavin is happy with what he has seen from the players. “It seems like we were never away,” he said. “We had fitness tests on Thursday which was fairly hard and they had a tough double session on Saturday. A lot of the young lads are in good shape as well so we will get there. We have given them an extra day off this week because we have to be very careful. We don’t want them blowing up but they have got to be fitter. They have got to be more organised attack wise and in defence and that is my job. They have worked really hard and there is a great attitude amongst them all. Once we get a couple of pre-season friendlies organised we will get a better look at them and everyone will get a chance. It all gears up towards a hugely important game on the 6th August.”
The fixture list has thrown up a challenging start for the Mallards, with Linfield making the journey to Ferney Park for the season opener before a midweek trip to Portadown and then Ballymena at home on the second Saturday. “There are no easy games in this league but I think it’s a great one to start with,” said Gavin. “They are the most successful club out there and for them to come to Ferney Park for the first game is great. It’s an opportunity for the lads to step up to the plate and go about making Ferney Park a fortress by getting a result. We are all looking forward to it. It will be a tough week because we are away to Portadown on the Wednesday night that week as well but we know what we have to do and hopefully we can go out there and achieve what we want to.”