By Aaron Hassard
IT was a “disappointing” evening in Larne for Ballinamallard United manager Mark Stafford as his side succumbed to the quality of Jay Donnelly and Newington last weekend,
Two goals in each half sealed victory for The Swans, with manager Stafford accepting that his side couldn’t contain the quality of the hosts frontman.
“Jay Donnelly was on a different level to the rest of us on the night” admitted Stafford.
“But I felt that we switched off defensively and allowed them too much space in behind. I was disappointed with the goals we conceded.
“Their first came from a quick throw near the halfway line and the second was a long throw into the box. I thought we had turned a corner as a group in terms of not conceding those types of goals this year.
“We had been quite good in that area up until Friday night,” he added.
A change of personnel and shape at the break showed initial promise, before two goals in two minutes put the result beyond any doubt.
Stafford was again disappointed with the manner of the third goal conceded after the break.
“We made a few changes at half time, and I felt that we started the second half brightly and got a foothold in the game,” explained Stafford.
“However, we conceded another poor third goal from a ball down the middle that we didn’t deal with. I don’t believe that we should be conceding goals like that at this level of football.
“The fourth goal was a bit of quality by Jay Donnelly but, overall, it was a very disappointing night.”
After consecutive away games, Annagh United pay a visit to Ferney Park where the Mallards have picked up four points from their two home fixtures.
Stafford is hopeful that his players can take the learnings from Inver Park into their match against table-topping United.
“We are hoping to learn from this game. The beauty of this league is that we can apply the learnings from the defeat against Annagh, which will be another tough test,” said the Mallards boss.
“They are absolutely flying and have good players all over the pitch. They are another team who are a threat from set-pieces and long throws.
“The last time they came down here we were 3-nil down at half-time, having conceded from three set-pieces. We will be looking to improve on that and need to be ‘on it’ come Saturday.”