By Aaron Hassard
BALLINAMALLARD United manager Mark Stafford said that his side’s win in Portadown on St Stephen’s Day was “probably our best performance of the season.”
The Mallards took a major step forward in their season with a back-to-back league win and Stafford was pleased with the character of his players.
“That was probably our best performance of the season,” Stafford told the ‘Herald.
“Our performance against Annagh was the full package. Our goalkeeper and back four were outstanding.
“Alex Holder, James McGrath and Caolán Donnelly competed well against a good team in the middle of the pitch, which gave us a platform to play. We looked dangerous going forward.”
Nathan Sherry’s late header capped a fine display for the centre back, while Lorcan Donnelly pulled off a couple of sublime saves to keep a clean sheet for the second successive week.
“Lorcan [Donnelly] lost his grandfather the day before the game,” explained Stafford.
“For him to turn up for us and perform the way he did tells you everything you need to know about the kid. The save he made in the first half was world class, adjusting his feet and clawing the ball onto the bar.
“Nathan Sherry’s performance was immaculate.
“Sherry has had a decent season, but there’s certain bits in his game that he can improve upon and we have spoken about that. His glancing header was fantastic, as good as you’ll see.”
With Ballinamallard having now accumulated almost as many points on the road this season as they did in the whole of the last campaign, Stafford feels his side are better prepared for away games.
“Our away form was an elephant in the room last season,” Stafford said.
“We always travelled with belief and went out to get results, but we just weren’t doing it consistently enough.
“However, the group are more experienced now and are better equipped to deal with the various environments that we come across away from Ferney Park.”
Stafford is now hoping for more from his Mallards side as they enter 2026.
“I just want the team to keep improving,” he said.
“I’m big about training and it’s important that the levels there are good. There’s loads that we can still work on and that’s the aspiration, to keep getting better and see where it takes us.”
