Ballinamallard manager Harry McConkey has accepted that his team are underperforming at both ends of the pitch, following their 4-0 defeat to Dundela. The latest loss leaves the Mallards languishing in eighth spot in the Championship table, nineteen points off pace setters Loughgall having scored less than half the goals of the leaders, and conceded four times as many.

Before the season kicked off the boss was confident his front four of Caolan McAleer, Patrick Ferry, Josh McIlwaine and BJ Banda would be a prolific strike force, but it has not panned out that way with the quartet having only managed five goals between them after 16 league games.

“The goals return from my strikers in the league so far has been very disappointing and is reflected in our league position,” conceded the manager. “If someone had told me this was what these four proven quality championship players would be on in terms of goal return I would never have believed them. At this point last season Macca and BJ were topping the league goalscoring charts, and Caolan when at Loughgall scored seven in eleven games between January and April. Patrick was a scoring success at Derry City under 19s and was seen as young player with great potential as a fox in the box for their first team.”

“Meanwhile, we have conceded 24 goals in 16 games and that is very poor from a defensive point of view. The whole team are responsible for that not just a goalkeeper and a back four. We have conceded needless set plays and then defended them poorly. We have had individuals presenting opponents the ball when it seemed easier to keep it.”

“Really it's the perfect storm for any team and it's my responsibility as manager to firstly weather the storm and then help navigate this group of players and staff out of it. I certainly won't shirk that challenge as big as it is.”

An ongoing and ever expanding list of unavailable players has played its part in hampering the progress of the Mallards, and Saturday was no exception with key influential squad members forced to sit on the side lines.

“We’ve had so many players unavailable to us over the past month,” lamented McConkey. “Mark Stafford and Caolan McAleer have been out for six weeks and they are big players in our squad for sure with lots to offer. Peter Campbell has been out with a hamstring strain, Peter Maguire, Ruairi Sludden and Patrick Ferry all have been out and missed training and games with impact and ligament injuries. Last Saturday we had no Jamie Ray with a calf tear, Lee Warnock with knee ligaments, Ronan McKinley with a thigh injury, Shane McGinty suspended and now Stevie Drumm is out with a bad ankle sprain received in a freak accident at home. Both on the pitch and on the bench we have had players carrying niggles and knocks but simply getting on with it and wanting to play and fight for the cause, however we have a duty of care to them all and we are trying to protect them where and when we can by nursing them through games and training sessions. I told the players in my pre match talk at Dundela on Sat that Brian Clough was famously quoted when speaking about his about his team, ‘I’ve a great team on paper unfortunately the game is played on grass’. I know exactly how Cloughie felt.”

Despite the latest setback at Dundela, the manager believes the score line was not a true reflection of a game where the Mallards matched their opponents for long periods. “

The four nil score line sounds like a trouncing, but realistically we know we are not that far away from a team like Dundela, but when things go against you they go against you,” he said. “We were very much still in it at one nil coming up to half time, and then the referee gave a harsh penalty and that is the sort of thing that turns a game. We felt we had momentum and we weren’t frightened by them in any way. We did come back at them and had a few chances and if we can convert any of those we are still in the game until Tony Kane hit an absolute screamer out of nothing when they were living on scraps. It was hugely disappointing and painful, and our league position is not healthy. We have had a horrible time. While the points we have gathered over the last few weeks have not been outstanding, the performances have been good given the number of injuries we have had to carry. I see the players work hard and prepare well for their matches, but at times they let themselves down with poor execution or individual errors. That all leads to confidence being dented, and we know the only way to get your confidence back is to win games.”

The next chance for the Mallards to start to restore that dented confidence is a home match against tenth place Knockbreda, but McConkey is once again expecting a tough test. “We know if we get three points week we can go into the next Loughgall game with a bit of confidence,” he said. “Knockbreda drew with Annagh on Saturday and Loughgall scaped a one nil win against them, and they are a team that are young and energetic. They want to get themselves away from that relegation zone and I have no doubt that this is another game where we must be very wary of them. We need to keep our heads and stick together and drive forward again.”