Ballinamallard Reserves 1 Orchard Farm 1 

A second half equaliser from Brian McDermott gave Orchard Farm a share of the points at Fisher Park, as Ballinamallard Reserves missed out on an opportunity to join Castlederg at the top of Division Two. 

Adam McCreery had given the Mallards the lead from the penalty spot in added time at the end of the first half, but McDermott took full advantage of hesitation in the Ballinamallard defence to deny them the victory.  

Mallard’s boss Ally Irwin admitted he was frustrated to see points slip away in their battle for promotion.  

“It felt like a couple of points dropped,” he acknowledged.  

“Ironically, we were poor in the first half and yet went into the changing room one nil up.

"In the second half we were much improved, but we couldn’t find the net. It was very frustrating in the manner we ended up drawing the game because we definitely did a good job defensively for 89 of the 90 minutes, but a lapse in concentration cost us.

"I have to give credit to Orchard Farm. They turned up with a clear way they wanted to approach the game. They defended well and got what they were looking for.” 

Orchard Farm manager Shane O’Donnell was delighted with his team’s performance.  

“It was a great result. A brilliant point for us against a very good team,” he said.  

“We set out to keep it tight at the back and hit them on the counter, and it did work.

"Unfortunately, they got a cheap penalty on the stroke of halftime, but I was happy with the way it went and Brian took his goal well.  It was very pleasing all round.” 

Goal scoring opportunities were rare for either side in a tight first half, with Ballinamallard showing no signs of the clinical finishing they had displayed in scoring double figures the previous week.

Farm goalkeeper Michael McGrath made two comfortable saves from free kicks from Shane Speak and Ben Arnold, with Ballinamallard goalkeeper James Mills relatively untroubled at the other end.  

With halftime approaching, the home team’s best move of the half resulted in the opening goal.

Shane Speak and Conor Stewart combined on the left wing, and although Orchard Farm cleared the initial danger, Reece Byrne fed the ball back into the penalty area and Stewart got to the ball in front of the defender before he was brought down.

McGrath got a hand to McCreery’s spot kick, but he could not keep it out as Ballinamallard went into the break ahead. 

The Mallards started brightly in the second half and Arnold had a great opportunity to extend their lead when Byrne beat the full-back and advanced along the byline before cutting the ball back, but midfielder Arnold struck the outside of the post with his close-range effort.

Cameron Lucas then flashed a long-range drive from the right of the penalty area just past the post, but it was Orchard Farm that scored the next goal of the game.

A through ball caused hesitation in the Ballinamallard defence, and although goalkeeper Mills raced out to clear, the ball fell at the feet of McDermott who fired into the unguarded net from 30 yards. 

Ballinamallard pressed forward in search of a winner and Conor Stewart’s cross just evaded Arnold in the centre, before Jack Beatty fired a close-range shot off the post.

In the dying seconds Farm had a chance to snatch victory when substitute Winston Moran burst into the penalty area, but a last-ditch tackle from Dylan Seaney ensured the game finished level.