Ballinamallard squandered a two goal lead against Ballyclare Comrades as they made their exit from the League Cup on Tuesday night at Dixon Park.

Manager Harry McConkey admitted it was a difficult defeat to accept, as he felt both luck and refereeing decisions went against the Mallards.

“It was very cruel for the boys,” said the boss. “I wanted to get a victory to give everybody a lift and a boost going into Saturday’s game, and getting a big name in the cup would have been nice, but yet again lady luck wasn’t with us.”

The first round tie turned into a game packed with penalty controversy, with Ballyclare awarded three penalties during the match by referee Raymond Crangle, while the Mallards were convinced they should have been given a spot kick in the last minute of normal time.

The first penalty kick of the contest came when the ball was blasted towards Mark Stafford from close range. The home team’s second penalty, awarded for a handball by Peter Maguire, was saved by Jamie Ray, before they converted a clear cut penalty to equalise. The manager’s frustrations however were reserved for the non-award of a penalty for his side in the closing minutes of the match, when Caolan McAleer’s cross appeared to strike the outstretched arm of a Ballyclare defender.

“Some of the referee’s decisions we simply don’t understand,” said a frustrated McConkey.

“We were 2-0 up and then a handball was given against Mark Stafford. Raymond Crangle gave it without any hesitation, but the ball was smacked at him from not very far away and he couldn’t possibly have done anything about it.

“Then, in the dying minutes, there was a blatant handball. All our supporters and ourselves though it was clear that the hand was outside the body. Caolan wasn’t far away from him, but the referee claimed the hand was down by his side and not extended.

“I think we contributed an awful lot to a very exciting cup tie and we just wanted so much to come out on the right side of it, but we have been deprived of that. We need to accept it now and move on, but we are all deeply hurt by the result.”

It was a bright first half for the Mallards, scoring twice in the space of five minutes having not managed more than one goal in any previous game this season.

“At 2-0 up we had scored two very good goals and we were in a good pace,” acknowledged the manager.

“They had come out of the blocks fast, but we rode that storm for the first ten minutes and then we started to take control with Caolan McAleer and Macca (Joshua McIlwaine) up top, and Reece (Byrne) and John (Edgar) in midfield.

“We were starting to dominate, so it was unfortunate to concede the penalty when we did, and then Mark had a header cleared off the line, so we could have been going in at half time 3-1 up and in a really good place.”

“Our half time team talk was about being positive and going at them on the front foot because we felt that was where we were at our best.

“We needed to be going forward at every opportunity rather than let them come at us, because they had some dangerous players in their top six, but for some reason we took our foot off the pedal and let them get back into it.”

The defeat is a further blow to the morale of the squad, but the manager is still confident they can turn their season around against Ards at Ferney Park on Saturday.

“We need to be really brave on Saturday and face up to the challenge,” he said. “ Our league status is the most important thing to everybody and we need to go and make it as difficult as we can for Ards, and do everything we can to get a result.

“Matthew Tipton has had a mixed set of results, but they are littered with ex-Irish league Premiership players so we are fully aware of what is in front of us.

“We have watched them against Warrenpoint and like all teams in this league they have their strengths and weaknesses, and it will be our job to exploit their weaknesses and make sure that we try to nullify their strengths. We want to come out on the right side of this one for sure,” he said.