“We simply don’t help ourselves” said Harry McConkey after their 2-0 away defeat to Loughgall at the weekend.
“While it’s frustrating for me, I do know my players are absolutely gutted by it. There was a lot of upset after the match” said the Ducks boss, after his team suffered another blow to their promotion hopes but he is not ruling out the possibility of still grabbing that second spot;
“The results were crazy yet again, it’s so frustrating after the game when you hear Annagh have lost 5-1 to Institute, that Newry have drawn with Queens who are bottom and Welders were beaten by Dergview and Welders beat us 3-0 and they haven’t won a game since. There’s so much inconsistency within the league, that’s the thing that gives you hope and you must keep going until it’s mathematically impossible.”
The Fermanagh side cannot afford to drop any more points in their last six games and that starts this Saturday at home to Dergview.
“This week is another vital game” says McConkey, “These are literally all cup finals now and you must keep going with the belief that you can win it and that you can get momentum and that others will slip up again because that’s clearly what we need.
“They (Dergview) are always a formidable opponent for us. They beat us down there 3-1 the last time. The game, like Saturday’s game and so many, changes on moments.
“That day we were 1-0 down and had a blatant penalty turned away, had a player sent off and it was a sad ending to the game, the way that we lost that.
“People would’ve said it was a comfortable win for Dergview but I wouldn’t say it was because with 10 men we played extremely well against them but I do think that they’ve always done very well against us and particularly at our own ground. They enjoy the open spaces, they’ve got players with pace, Mattie Kirk is flying at the moment. he scored two on Saturday.”
Dergview and Ballinamallard both have a lot at stake. The Tyrone side are vying for a top six finish before the split while the Mallards can rule out promotion almost definitely if they succumb to another defeat.
The Mallards await the fitness of Mark Stafford who suffered a hamstring injury on Saturday, he is deemed “doubtful” but McConkey is hopeful he will make a recovery.