Ballinamallard manager Mark Stafford has declared himself happy with his team’s pre-season preparations after the Mallards went unbeaten in their first three fixtures, with a draw against League of Ireland side Finn Harps following victories over Enniskillen Town and Maiden City.

The Ducks came from 2-0 down against Harps on Tuesday night, with second half goals from James McGrath and Joshua McIlwaine salvaging a draw against a Harps team with ex-Ballinamallard manager Tommy Canning on the coaching team.

The Mallards’ first two warm up games had already yielded 14 goals and two clean sheets. They reached double figures in their first pre-season match against Intermediate side Maiden City, and scored four more in a much closer contest against local Fermanagh and Western side Enniskillen Town, who were under the stewardship of their own new manager Ryan Hanna.

Stafford was particularly pleased with his team’s victory over Town.

“Maiden City were a very young side and we can’t read too much into that, but the result against Town on Saturday pleased me because Town were very, very good,” he said.

“They were well coached by Ryan Hanna and we had to do a bit of problem solving in the second half. I made a few changes and it stifled them a wee bit because they were getting a lot of joy in midfield in the first half. I was really happy with the goals we scored.

"Good to see Macca (McIlwaine) get another goal and Darragh Stewart, Darragh Byrne and Danny Barker all get goals. We are happy enough with the way it is going so far.”

Darragh Byrne opened the scoring for Ballinamallard after 20 minutes, running on to a through ball from Alex Holder and slotting underneath the keeper, before experienced striker Josh McIlwaine netted a second just before half time with a near post header from Byrne’s cross.

Stafford rung the changes during the second half, bringing on nine substitutes as the entire squad got as taste of competitive action. Darragh Stewart, on loan from Dungannon Swifts, made it 3-0 for the Mallards when he cut in from the left and fired past the keeper, before Danny Barker completed the victory with a late fourth.

The game also featured new signing Tiernan Campbell, who has settled in well since his move from Strathroy Harps.

“I am really pleased to get Tiernan,” admitted Stafford. “He is a young up and coming player and had a good season last year with Strathroy in the Fermanagh and Western Division One. We brought him in to have a look at him, and we knew from the first two sessions that he was very good, fit and strong with a really good attitude. He is the sort of young player we want. We are trying to give as many local players an opportunity as possible, if they want to come, and he definitely fits that bill.

"He has a few areas that he still needs to improve on obviously, but he is still very young and he has a huge future in my opinion.”

The young full back will have plenty of experienced heads around him, with the club also confirming the re-signing of centre backs Richie Johnston and Peter Maguire in addition to captain Aaron Arkinson and Josh McIlwaine.

“We were really glad to get Richie and Peter done,” said Stafford following confirmation of the the centre back pairing.

“There was a bit of intertest in Peter last year and a bit of interest in Richie over the summer as well, so we were glad to get it done. Richie has signed a two year deal which is important for the club to give us a bit of stability in there. It is brilliant for us. He deserves it.”