Whitey hoping to get back home

Published 14 May 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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Ballymoney 2; Ballinamallard United 0;

IFA Championship; Ballinamallard United manager Whitey Anderson believes that his side will be plying their trade back at Ferney Park next season.

The Mallards excellent campaign in the IFA Championship, where they finished fifth following a 2-0 defeat to Ballymoney in their final game last Thursday night, came despite having to play their "home" games at Armagh City"s Holm Park and Anderson feels that it is vital that the team are back on home soil for the start of next season.

'It"s an absolute must to be back in Ferney Park and I would be confident that our home games will be in Ballinamallard next season. The club also hope to do work to the pitch which is a necessity and in fairness to the committee they are aware of that. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to have things right for us to play at home next season,' stated Anderson.

Anderson"s side needed a win on Thursday night to snatch fourth place from Ards and cap off a remarkable season but despite the defeat Anderson has hailed the campaign as a huge success.

'It"s was a disappointing end to the season but that does not hide the fact that it was a great a season and I actually believe that if we didn"t have so many injuries and lose momentum when we had three free weekends we could have finished higher. The committee and supporters were magnificent all season even though we were playing away from home but the greatest praise must go to the players. They deserve great credit for the way they challenged in the league this year and for some of the great football they played on the pitch. We got over 60 points and scored over 70 goals which was a great achievement and the important thing was that the players enjoyed it. They are a great bunch to work with and the idea now has to be to build on it,' commented Whitey.

The Mallards manager accepts that it will be a tougher challenge next season to reach the highs of this year and that is why he is determined that nobody rests on their laurels.

'I think it will be intriguing next season and a lot of clubs will strengthen their squads during the summer. The likes of Bangor, Loughgall, Donegal Celtic, Ards and Larne will all be hoping to push on so we can"t afford to sit still. To be competitive next season we need to build on this year and move forward. It will be great to get back home and if we can get off to a start like we did this season then that would set us up well,' said Anderson.

He added: 'I believe this is as good a Ballinamallard side that there has been since the club entered the Irish League in 1989 and it is good to see a team representing this area and doing well in the second tier of Irish League football.'

On a wet and windy night the Mallards had plenty of possession in the early stages although goal chances were scarce during the half.

Richard Flaherty fired one shot over the top and Craig Hill blazed wide with a long range effort while the best chance of the half came when Hill played in Andy Crawford who raced in on goal but he lost control of the ball and the Ballymoney goalkeeper collected.

The home side began to create more from the start of the second half with one chance knocked over from a one on one before they grabbed the lead in the 59th minute, Denver Gage tapping home after Paddy Morrison could only get his fingertips to a cross.

And three minutes later it was 2-0 with David Nicholl the scorer.

Anderson decided to give some of his younger players a run out in the latter stages with U18 goalkeeper Matthew Quinn coming in for his league debut while their was also a senior debut for Nathan Khan.

The Mallards had a couple of good chances before the end with Crawford, Conor McGuigan, Cathal Beacom and Flaherty all going close but none of them could find the back of the net as Ballymoney finished up 2-0 winners.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 14 May 09

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