It was a bad day at the office for Ballinamallard on Saturday as they crashed to a 3-0 defeat to Coleraine at Ferney Park - and only for goalkeeper James McGrath it could have been a lot worse for Gavin Dykes side.
McGrath pulled off a string of top quality saves to keep the score down but there was little he could do with the three that did beat him as the Bannsiders ran out comfortable winners.
“It was a busy day for me but that is just part and parcel of the job,” said McGrath. “I was happy enough with the couple of saves I made but there were a few things I could have done better. At the end of the day though it is not about individuals, it is a team game and we just didn’t perform on the day.”
The Mallards were under pressure right from the first whistle although they managed to hold out to half time before conceding in the first minute of the second half.
“We really just didn’t show up. I don’t know what it was, we were really flat from the word go and never got going. Gavin said at half time that it took us 12 minutes at the start of the game to get out of our own half and to be honest it felt like 25 minutes. It was just relentless.When we got to half time at 0-0 we thought right we need a big 45 minutes but the early goal killed us at the start of the second half. We tried to regroup again and steady the ship but we conceded a poor second goal and after that it was a case of us trying to get one back but we never really threatened a goal,” commented the Mallards number one.
The Belcoo man made a return to Ferney Park this summer after a stint with Glenavon where he won an Irish Cup. Having spent last season on the bench though he is still working his way back to full match sharpness while he is also getting used to a new style of play.
“I still think there is a bit of work on fitness and getting up to match pace. I know we have played six games now but I still think I have a bit of work to do although I’m getting there.
“When you are starting games, everything has to be sharpened up while the style of play is completely different from when I was playing at Glenavon. At Glenavon it was get the ball over the top and try and turn defenders where Gavin wants us to play out from the back and I have to adjust to that a bit. It’s coming though and I feel I’m getting better week on week. I’m enjoying it and it is a good group of lads,” he added.
McGrath feels a first league win will get the Mallards kick started and that it is a case of taking what they are doing on the training ground into a match situation.
 “I think it will only take the one win and then we will start pushing on. We probably should have had it against Carrick but we’ll get there. Training has gone well but now we have to do it on the pitch on a Saturday,” he stated.
It is back to familiar territory this Saturday for McGrath when the Mallards travel to Mourneview Park to take on high flying Glenavon and while the keeper accepts they face a tough test, he believes there is no better time to get that first win.
“We have a tough one on Saturday but there is no reason why we can’t go there and turn them over,” he said.