Ballinamallard have added Derry City goalkeeper Jack Lemoignan to their squad for Saturday’s game against Ards, with manager Harry McConkey keen to make further additions to the squad. The 22 year old keeper will join on a one year loan deal, and McConkey admitted he is also on the lookout for a striker to replace BJ Banda, who left to join Premiership leaders Larne last week.

The manager has been on the lookout for a keeper since the departure of Michael Lynch last month, and the capture of Lemoignan marks the end of a year long chase for the his signature.

“Jack is a young keeper that I had tried to bring to the club previously,” McConkey revealed.

“I approached Derry City about him about a year ago and they weren’t prepared to let him go. Then, last summer, he was on the verge of signing when he damaged his meniscus cartilage in his knee and had to have a small operation, so we couldn’t go through with it then.

“When we knew that Michael Lynch was returning to the Gaelic in Donegal we went back to them, and we have been lucky. He is a very good young keeper and he is a full time pro who has been training regularly. Derry have spoken highly of his attitude and that is very important. He is still young and still learning.”

The manager is hoping that Lemoignan will not be the only new addition to the Ballinamallard squad in the January transfer window, with McConkey on the lookout for a new striker to replace last season’s top scorer BJ Banda.

“We are still on the lookout for someone for that end of the pitch but it has to be the right player,” he said.

“We have some very good young strikers who are developing their game including Patrick Ferry and Peter Campbell, along with Caolan McAleer and Josh McIlwaine, so it’s not that we are completely sparse but we are looking for someone to boost us, although we know prolific goal scorers are very hard to find.”

While the manager was disappointed to see Banda leave for Larne, he acknowledged that it was too good an opportunity for the in-demand striker to turn down.

“BJ was always exciting to watch, and it is a tremendous move for him,” said McConkey. “When he first came to us he needed to regain some of his confidence, and I asked him to come and enjoy his football and give it a real go and get himself back in the marketplace.

“He did more than that, and several clubs were interested in him. Portadown came in for him and Dungannon were interested, but the big appeal with Larne was the professional full time set up. The fact we have given him a wee help up to that level is something the club should be very proud of, and we wish him every success.”

The Mallards travelled to Belfast on Tuesday evening without any new additions to their squad, and a 3-1 defeat to H&W Welders continued their slide down the league table.

“It is quite clear that we are starting to look down and not up, and that is never a nice place to be,” admitted the manager.

“It is going to test the character of this squad for sure, but we do not have any time to mope about it. We have to get ready for another good game at home on Saturday.”

Despite the defeat, the manager was pleased with the efforts of his players and felt there was no adverse reaction to the crushing cup loss just three days previously.

“The players were gutted after Saturday and we were hoping for a reaction after that, and I thought they provided just that,” he said.

“When Welders got the third goal we could have collapsed like we did against Annagh, but it was absolutely the opposite. We took control of the game and had a few good chances. We scored a good goal and had balls zipping across their box, and their keeper pulled off a wonder save from John Edgar.

“When those things happen it is easy for players to lose their confidence, but we looked like we grew in confidence. The players gave everything, and they asked loads of questions of Welders, but we didn’t finish off that last touch. We are going to have to work through this together. There is no question it is difficult, and no matter what way you dress it up we need to be finishing it off and be more clinical.

“We also need to be shutting that back door. We have had to change our defence and goalkeeper frequently this season and that it is reflected by our goals against, but equally our goals for is not good enough as well, so it is a bad mix.”

Ballinamallard’s next opportunity to end their winless run comes on Saturday at Ferney Park against Ards. The manager is hoping to have Mark Stafford back in contention for selection, and he is also hopeful that Shane McGinty will shake off an ankle concern and Ronan McKinley will have recovered from illness.