After receiving criticism from their manager following the 3-1 home defeat to Carrick Rangers, Whitey Anderson has praised his side for the way responded against Ballymena United on Saturday.

The Mallards came within seconds of taking all three points before they were pegged back by an equaliser deep into stoppage time, but the boss was delighted with the performance and believes there is more to come as the season progresses.

“I asked for a response and I got that. The players were absolutely fantastic,” said Whitey. “They worked extremely hard in training during the week and they took that into the game and the performance was excellent from start to finish. I think some teams in this league are still finding their feet and I think we certainly are. We have to transfer what happens in training onto the pitch on match day and we haven’t really been able to do that for one reason or another. If we show the same level of commitment and courage that we did on Saturday then we can certainly look forward to better results.” While the performance yielded many positives for the manager, he admits the nature of the draw left his players ‘gutted’. “I suppose before the game if you thought we were going to get a point you wouldn’t have been disappointed because we needed to stop the rot after the performance the previous week, but we were gutted to lose the lead with only seconds to go,” he admitted. “I have absolutely no doubt that on the day we deserved to take all three points. The players showed a lot of courage both on and off the ball. We had a lot of opportunities in the last third of the pitch and we took the wrong option and didn’t take advantage and it gave them the opportunity to equalise.” A major talking point in the game was the red cards issued to Shane McCabe and Ballymena’s Michael Ruddy, with Ruddy receiving his marching orders for a rash challenge, and McCabe dismissed for kicking out in retaliation. “Michael Ruddy’s challenge was reckless to say the least and Shane did very well to ride the challenge or he could have had his leg broken,” said Whitey. “Shane’s reaction, he admitted himself, could have been better. It was unacceptable and he made a mistake. I don’t think anybody could have any argument over the two cards.” McCabe will be missing from the midfield for this weekend’s visit of Cliftonville to Ferney Park and centre back Leon carters is also a doubt after picking up a knock in the match but Johnny Courtney has trained this week and is back in contention for a game that the manager admits will be another tough test.

“Cliftonville are an exceptional side with great players and they bounced back well themselves on Saturday after a poor result so I’m expecting a very tough game,” said Whitey. “Our players can take confidence from their performance last Saturday though and we need to keep that level of organisation and commitment and carry it through to the game against Clitonville.” Meanwhile, Anderson has also decided to release striker Aaron Patterson. It is understood that Patterson was informed after the Ballymena game that he had no future at Ballinamallard and has now been given an opportunity to find another club.