Ballinamallard manager Whitey Anderson was happy with yet another Ferney Park draw against one of the league’s top sides when they played out a 0-0 stalemate against Portadown.

The Mallards went into the game boosted by the draw at home to Linfield four days earlier and they produced another solid performance to secure another point against the side sitting third in the Danske Bank Premiership.

“It was a game we wanted to produce a good performance in, like Linfield, and we certainly got that,” he said. “When they went down to ten men I would have liked the win, but we didn’t get it. Overall you have to be very pleased with the performance. The players stood up to what was a strong physical team in Portadown. They weren’t bullied and were very unfortunate in the end because I thought we could have got the win. I was very pleased to get through the match with a clean sheet and another good performance.” Anderson and Portadown counterpart Ronnie McFall were in disagreement after the game with McFall believing that Mallards attacker Johnny Lafferty should have been shown a second yellow card towards the end of the first half while Anderson accused Portadown of gamesmanship and trying to get his player sent off.

“I thought Lafferty should have walked,” said McFall. “He was already booked and there was another blatant yellow card and the referee bottled it. That changes the overall complexion of the game as they would have been down to ten men and we would have been in the ascendancy then.” However, Anderson had a different take on the incident.

“I don’t think Johnny Lafferty should have got the line at all. It was a soft booking he got first of all and I think Portadown’s gamesmanship was at its height and they were trying to get Johnny Lafferty sent off. I’m glad the referee was strong enough to deal with that,” said Anderson.

McFall then saw striker Mark McAllister pick up a second booking ten minutes from time after he was adjudged to have taken a dive in the box by referee Mervyn Smyth and the Ports boss was critical of the performance of the officials.

“Overall, I thought the referee and officials performance was very poor for both teams. How McAllister gets sent off for diving after he turned the two players in the box is beyond me,” said McFall.

He added: “I didn’t think it was a dirty match in any shape or form. I lost count on how many players were booked and you have to question these referees. The game was ruined as a spectacle for everyone and it just seems to get worse every week.” On the issue of the number of free kicks awarded in the game, there was 47 in all, Anderson commented: “ I think one or two of their players were looking to referee the game from the start and if he (Smyth) had given them a yellow card it would have cooled the thing down but he let it go on too long.” Ballinamallard have a free weekend and will train on Saturday before a crucial home tie against Coleraine followed by a trip to bottom side Institute, where the Mallards have secured their only away win of the league season so far. “We have very important games coming up so it’s important that we apply ourselves properly against those teams,” he said. “If we can play the way we have been playing in the last few games I’m confident we can get a result. The players have responded after the Warrenpoint performance but we have to do that against everybody and they know that themselves. What is pleasing is that over the last couple of games we have had the full squad available and we have no injuries, and that will be very important for the last games of the season.” The manager has not only managed to get through the January transfer window having held on to all his key players, but the club brought in two players at the end of the window. Aaron O’Hagan is a 22 year old centre back who has played for Finn Harps, Letterkenny Rovers and Castlefinn Celtic, while 19 year old goalkeeper Adam Murphy was previously with Sligo Rovers U19s and his hometown club Claremorris.

“We have signed a couple of young fellas who will train and play with us for 12 weeks,” said Whitey. “We will see how they get on and if they impress they will get games.”