Mallards now in touching distance of superb fourth

Published 7 May 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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Loughgall United 1; Ballinamallard United 3;

Ladbrokes.com IFA Championship; Ballinamallard United hit back from a goal down to claim a 3-1 win over Loughgall at Lakeview Park on Saturday.

The result over third placed Loughgall now leaves Ballinamallard needing a win tonight (Thursday) against Ballymoney to secure a superb fourth spot in the Ladbrokes.com Championship table which would be a wonderful achievement for the Ferney Park outfit.

Saturday"s victory also finished off Loughgall"s hopes of taking second spot in the table and although Donegal Celtic lost 2-0 to Portadown in the title decider, Loughgall"s defeat left DC in the play off position.

The Mallards had started Saturday"s encounter poorly and fell behind to an Alderdice goal but Darren Higginbotham levelled for Ballinamallard and after this they went on to control the action.

Cathal Beacom fired in a wonderful free kick to put the Mallards in front and James McKenna made sure of the victory with a header to leave it 3-1 at the finish.

Mallards manager Whitey Anderson felt it was a good all round performance from his side and singled out three players in particular for praise.

'For the first 20 minutes or so Loughgall were definitely the better side but after that we got on top. It was a great team effort and although I don"t like picking out individuals I thought that three of our players deserve special mention. Paddy Morrison in goals never put a foot wrong all day while Darren Higginbotham"s work rate was phenomenal. I also thought that the goal from Cathal Beacom was worthy of winning any game, it was a superb strike,' said Anderson.

The Fermanagh side were slow out of the blocks with Loughgall playing some tidy football in the first period. And it was the home side who went on to grab the lead through Alderdice as the Mallards hopes of fourth spot began to fade.

However, Ballinamallard forced their way back into the contest just before half time with Higginbotham capitalising on a goalkeeping error to make it 1-1 at the break.

If the Mallards were slow to get going in the first half, the same could not be said about the second as they took the game to the home side from the whistle with a brilliant performance.

Beacom"s sensational goal, crashing a 35 yard bullet free kick to the back of the net, giving the Loughgall goalkeeper no chance, put the Mallards into a 2-1 lead, and they then clinched the points when James McKenna surged forward to head home a Mattie Holden free for 3-1.

And so the Mallards will conclude their season against Ballymoney tonight where a victory would guarantee them fourth place which would be just reward for a fine season.

'We"ll be missing a few for the Ballymoney game but hopefully we can go on and get the win and fourth place which I think is what the boys deserve,' commented Anderson.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 07 May 09

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