More blues for shot shy Mallards

Editorial Department • Published 19 Aug 2010 16:00 0 Comments

Share this

click to enlarge
Mark McConkey rises to head the ball clear as Ballinamallard lost 1-0 for the second Saturday in a row.

Banbridge Town 1; Ballinamallard Utd 0;

Ballinamallard are still waiting on their first points of the season after a second successive 1-0 defeat on Saturday. Whitey Anderson’s side dominated the possession against the Banbridge but the home side grabbed the lead after 24 minutes and although the Mallards created a number of good scoring opportunities they were unable to convert any of them as the hosts held on for the win.

“We dominated this game and unlike the previous Saturday created enough chances to win two games,” said Anderson. “The goalkeeper was undoubtedly man of the match and on another day we would have had the game won by half time. If we keep working as hard and creating the chances we will get the rewards in the future. We will play worse and win games, that is the nature of football.”

The Mallards got on top from the opening moments with the pace and trickery of Darren Teague and Chris Curran causing problems for the Banbridge defence.

Andy Crawford had the first chance for the Mallards when he broke free but his shot from 18 yards was pushed around the post by the impressive Banbridge goalkeeper.

Duwayne McManus was then denied by a last ditch tackle after beng put through by Crawford and the elusive McManus was the next player to force a stop out of the goalkeeper.

The Mallards continued to press and Gary Maguire went close with a left footed effort, the goalkeeper saving on this occasion with his feet.

When Curran then tumbled in the box the Mallards appealed for a penalty but these were waved away by the referee and against the run of play the home side snatched the lead.

A long ball beat the Mallards’ two central defenders and the striker raced on to lob Mallards goalkeeper Mattie Quinn for 1-0.

Ballinamallard were soon back on the front foot again but once more the goalkeeper was proving impossible to beat. He produced a wonderful fingertip save after Mark Stafford’s header seemed to have top corner written all over it, while Stafford then had a goal disallowed when he was adjudged to have impeded the goalkeeper.

It could have been worse for the Mallards at half time when they nearly conceded a second but Mark McConkey was alert to clear off the line as the game remained 1-0 at the break.

The Mallards again took the game to Banbridge in the second half and the goalkeeper thwarted Anderson’s side with a terrific double stop, getting his hand to an excellent Teague shot before denying Crawford as he followed up.

Banbridge only threatened sporadically as the Mallards bossed the encounter but they could not make the breakthrough. Crawford fired wide and at the death the Mallards striker was again second best in his dual with the Banbridge netminder who pulled off a fine reflex save to secure the points for his side.

This week Ballinamallard are in cup action with an away game against Ballyclare in the CIS Cup and Whitey is hoping that his side can kick start their season.

“We had a great run in this competition last year and a win on Saturday would certainly help overcome the disappointment of the last two weeks. I know the players enjoyed last year’s adventure and they are all keen to use this Saturday as a platform to move forward,” commented Anderson.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Aug 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.