Ballianamallard midfielder Shane McCabe says that he felt that there was encouraging signs shown by the new look side during Saturday’s opening day defeat against Linfield.
However, he is eager for the Mallards to turn Ferney Park into a fortress, starting this Saturday against Ballymena.
It’s all change at Ferney Park with Gavin Dykes taking over the reins from Whitey Anderson and the new boss bringing in a number of new players as he makes the squad his own. 
On top of that the players had to deal with a difficult pre-season after the well publicised on and off play-off tie that meant that last season didn’t finish until the end of June.
And McCabe admits that they were going into the opening game with apprehension given that they were behind other sides in terms of work done so far.
“We knew it was going to be tough from the outset. People know the way the season dragged on last year that Gavin’s hands were tied during pre-season with the time that was available to us and to be honest we were a bit apprehensive going into the game because of our fitness levels. 
“We also had three or four debutants and a very young backline but once we settled down and got to grips with the pace of the match we dominated possession albeit we didn’t create that many chances. 
“For the first game of the season though it was a great, battling performance. We were composed on the ball and the young players grew into the match. Maybe I’d tinted glasses on but I felt we were the better team in the second half but we just didn’t really create that many chances to trouble Roy on his return to the club. You can’t really read too much into the first game of the season but we would be very optimistic going forward,” said McCabe, who captained the side in the absence of James McKenna.
And the experienced McCabe liked what he saw of the new faces in the squad.
“I thought the two boys at the back, Ryan and Ross, were superb. Ryan had to make a couple of last ditch tackles which you wouldn’t want him to have to do that every week, but he was very good, and I also thought that Shane McGinty was excellent in the hole. There was plenty of positives for us to build on,” he added.
Indeed, McCabe has been impressed with the new set up at the club although he acknowledges that putting points on the board is key for the side.
“Gavin has been first class in everything he has done so far. His hands have obviously been tied a bit with the budget being cut but he has re-signed every player he wanted to re-sign and that’s a testament to him. You also have Steve Feeney who has been at the club for a long time and his coaching has been excellent and Andy Crawford is also with him and Andy is very well respected. Everybody has bought into what the management are trying to do and it’s just a matter of getting points on the board. We want to get as many points on the board as quickly as we can,” he commented.
The Mallards took on Portadown last night (Wednesday) and on Saturday they will host David Jeffrey’s Ballymena at Ferney Park. The Braidmen suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat to champions Crusaders on Saturday but McCabe expects them to be a lot less generous this week.
“I don’t think you will see a David Jeffrey team conceding six again this season, he will make sure that they are not conceding goals going forward. It was a tough opener for Ballymena and I think Crusaders and maybe Glenavon and possibly Linfield, if they get one or two more in, will be ahead of everybody else this season.”
What McCabe is adamant that Ballinamallard must do this season though is make Ferney Park a fortress, starting with a win over Ballymena on Saturday.
“We want to try and make Ferney Park a tough venue to come to and make it as hard as possible for anybody coming here. We want to pick up as many points at home as we can,” he added.