Nothing to fear from another away day

Denzil McDaniel • Published 19 Jan 2012 13:00 0 Comments

Dundela 0; Ballinamallard Utd 3;

Irish Premier League Coleraine are already warning of the dangers of facing Ballinamallard United in the sixth round of the Irish Cup.

Even though the Bannsiders, currently battling for a top four place, are at home in the February tie, their boss Oran Kearney's reaction was "(Ballinamallard) beat Lisburn Distillery in the cup last season so they have the capability to hurt you."

Such is the way expectation levels have risen about the Ferney Park side in a season where eyes are already starting to look to the possibility of Premiership football coming to Fermanagh for the first time ever.

On Saturday, their away tie at Dundela could have been a tricky enough encounter.

A narrow pitch and a poor surface, with a pumped-up opposition looking to cause an upset are often ingredients for the favourites to be unsettled.

In truth, though, the visiting Mallards rarely looked troubled and eased comfortably into the next round with a goal before half-time and two more in the second half.

Many of the Fermanagh travelling support adjourned to the Dundela clubhouse after the match to watch the cup draw live.

One statistic that was being talked about was that in recent seasons, Ballinamallard have been drawn at home only 25 per cent of the time.

Unfortunately, the trend continued, when Whitey Anderson's outfit came out of the hat second, away to Coleraine.

It will be another big day for the progressing club; one to look forward to, but not before vital league points are up for grabs. Starting this Saturday with a crunch encounter at home to fellow challengers, Institute.

After the previous week's upset in the Intermediate cup against Crumlin, Ballinamallard settled very quickly at Dundela on Saturday.

Jason McCartney had an early effort just wide, and although Dundela battled hard, Mallards had that little bit extra going forward.

Midway through the half, home keeper Jonny Sergeant foiled Andy Crawford on three occasions.

Twice within a minute, the netminder got down to push Crawford shots away, and when Sergeant later got a foot to another low Crawford shot it somehow went up and over the bar.

Crawford, it appeared, is going through one of those lean spells that all strikers have when his luck seemed to be out. All it needs is for his luck to turn and one to bounce in off his backside.

Despite that, he foraged hard and gave the Dundela backline little peace.

On 15 minutes Dundela's David Wright got in a header, and then Gary Irwin had a chance for the home side when he was unmarked in the box.

But his header was well wide.

It was a clash of styles, but despite the poor pitch, Mallards were still carving the better chances and more of them.

In the 40th minute, they took the lead. A good move down the left saw the ball crossed to McCartney and his effort hit the hand of a defender.

He appeared to be defending himself, but perhaps harshly Newtownards referee Graham McIlwrath pointed to the spot.

Jason McCartney confidently stroked home the penalty.

Harsh it may have been, but the lead was nothing more than Ballinamallard deserved at the interval.

Dundela started the second half with renewed impetus, attacking down the left with the danger being Kris Hunter. A great shot on the turn by Ben Roy was superbly turned around by Mallard keeper James McGrath.

The game opened up a little, but with 15 minutes gone, a determined run down the right by Mark McConkey set up Chris Curran for a shot which was blocked. This seemed to signal a fading of the Dundela challenge and the Mallards looked comfortable from then on.

On 67 minutes, the visitors went two up. Crawford got down the right and cut it back for Hutchinson to drive in a shot.

Keeper Sergeant did well to claw it on to the post but it rebounded back on to a defender, then back on to the keeper and agonisingly rolled in.

The visitors had done a thoroughly professional job and were cruising. And so they were able to give run outs to subs Stephen Sheridan, John Currie and Darren Higginbotham.

And in injury time, the victory was well and truly wrapped up when centre-half Leon Carters moved forward and slid in number three.

This was a dominant performance from a Ballinamallard side which has matured well this season.

They shouldn't go into the Coleraine tie with any great apprehension and the occasion will only add to their experience.

They will, however, have to put it out of their mind in the coming weeks and concentrate on league points if they want to keep alive their dream of visiting the Coleraines of this world on a more regular basis next season.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Jan 12

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