Ballymena pull away in the end

Editorial Department • Published 18 Feb 2010 10:23 0 Comments

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Ballinamallard's Gareth Liggett battles with Ballymena's Mark Surgeoner as the Mallards exited the Irish Cup at the hands of the Premiership outfit.

Ballymena United 5; Ballinamallard United 2;

Ballinamallard United suffered defeat in round six of the JJB Sports Irish Cup as they went down 5-2 to Premiership outfit Ballymena United at the Showgrounds.

The Mallards were in the game at the break, trailing 2-1, but a goal inside the opening minute of the second half was a killer blow for Whitey Anderson's charges who can now focus their full attentions on the league.

Anderson had watched Ballymena defeat Cliftonville in the league and he knew what his side were about to face.

"It was always going to be tough. I had watched them play Cliftonville last Tueaday night and they hurt us in the areas where I warned the players they could hurt us," he said.

The key now for the Mallards is to get back on track in the league after three defeats on the bounce in which they have conceded 15 goals.

"Since Christmas the wheels have come off the wagon and it is easy to blame the defence but as a unit we have not been doing the basics. We need to focus on getting back to working hard for each other and then we can look at playing football. There are a lot of points to be played for yet in the league and the aim is still for us to improve on where we finished last year," stated Anderson.

It was the Fermanagh side who had the first chance on Saturday when Cathal Beacom got his head to a Duwayne McManus corner but he guided his effort around the post.

And seven minutes later the home side grabbed the lead when a move down the right hand side resulted in Mark Surgenor sweeping the ball past Mallards goalkeeper Paddy Morrison for 1-0.

However, Ballinamallard levelled proceedings ten minutes later with a screamer from Beacom. The visitors were awarded a free kick 35 yards from goal and Beacom unleashed an unstoppable drive that gave the home goalkeeper Nelson no chance.

This boosted the Mallards confidence and Chris Crilly went close to putting Ballinamallard in front when he got on the end of a flick on by Andy Crawford only for his effort to go past the post.

And it was Ballymena who were to go ahead before half time as striker Kevin Kelbie was given too much time to pick his spot and put the Sky Blues 2-1 up at the interval. The game was still in the balance at half time but the Mallards were left facing an uphill battle when they fell 3-1 behind within a minute of the restart. A corner was played in and slack marking allowed Gary Haveron to head home to put Ballymena in control.

The home side extended their advantage when Kelbie stabbed in his second of the game although Ballinamallard did manage to pull a goal back as Seamus Quigley opened his account for the club. The substitute was on the pitch less than a minute when he did well to steer home a McManus corner to make it 4-2.

Kelbie though was to have the last say of the game as he completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot to leave it 5-2 at the conclusion.

With the cup competitions now over for the season, the league will take centre stage for the Mallards and Anderson will be looking for the three points on Saturday when they take on Glebe Rangers as Ballinamallard try to lift themselves back up the Championship One table.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 18 Feb 10

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