Ballinamallard Manager Harry McConkey is hoping a morale-boosting win over Dergview on Saturday will help ease the pain of their defeat in the North West Senior Cup final.

The 3-1 reversal at Darragh Park was the second defeat to their local rivals in as many weeks, with the cup final loss coming on the back of Dergview all but ending the Mallards’ promotion hopes the previous weekend, but the Manager is urging his players to give their all in an attempt to prevent Dergview completing a hat-trick of wins.

“We are in the position now where we have to get a good result and break this run, and then we can get a real push on from now until the end of the season,” said McConkey.

“It’s the job of the Manager to steady the ship, but when confidence starts to erode it can be very difficult to stop.

“The only answer is working through it on the training pitch. I have to find solutions to the problems and try to keep the boys motivated.

“It makes it more difficult when you are not winning, but that is the test we have to face up to. On Saturday we know exactly what to expect. It is our third game in a row and there is no question the over-familiarisation of players is never a good thing, but we are in no doubt about what is at stake.”

Their worst run

It is now just one win in the last seven matches for Ballinamallard – their worst run since the start of the 2018/19 season when they failed to win in eight consecutive league games.

That squad was at the start of a rebuilding process following their demotion from the top flight, but this time around the Manager believes it is the inability to field a consistent team that has had a major impact on their form.

“This has been the darkest patch we have been in since the start of the 2018 season when I took over,” McConkey conceded.

“I look at my squad and the number of quality players within that squad, and they have never been able to present themselves on the pitch, between injuries, suspensions and work commitments.

“Since the Christmas period it has been remarkable. Nonetheless the depth of the squad was there with the intention of allowing us to have quality players available to step in, but the circumstances have not allowed us to get into any sort of a flow.”

That run of results at the start of McConkey’s spell in charge was followed by a contrasting run of one defeat in 12 as the Mallards rescued a top-half finish from the season, and while there is no time for a season-salvaging run this time around, the boss does believe there are positives to be taken from the cup final loss.

“While it is always horrible to lose any cup final, it was not all doom and gloom,” he stated. “It was important to get valuable game time in a good competitive game to see where some players are at, going forward.

“Darragh Byrne, Ryan Morris, John Edgar, Patrick Ferry, Ronan McKinley and Duwayne McManus all have trained hard and deserved some rewards for their efforts.

“I wish to congratulate Tommy Canning and his players on winning the North West Cup. There is no doubt Dergview clearly have had the best of the exchanges regarding the league and in this cup final, but I believe that if we are on our game for 90 minutes, and not 30 or 60 minutes, we can cause an upset this week against them.

‘Horrible run’

“We must show up for our supporters and break this horrible run of poor results with a good, strong, determined collective performance.”

Cup final absentees Stafford, Clarke, McEvoy, Warrington, Morrow, Tweed and Warnock are all hopeful of making a comeback for this Saturday’s clash with Colm McLaughlin the only player likely to remain unavailable through injury.