Ballinamallard 1-2 Limavady

Ballinamallard once again lost an early lead as they fell to defeat to Limavady at Ferney Park on Saturday.  

The Mallards had taken the lead through a Darragh Stewart goal in the second minute of the contest, but Limavady equalised before halftime and netted a winner in the second half to inflict another defeat on the Mallards. 

Ballinamallard’s only league win away from home this season had come against Limavady in September and they were looking to repeat that result in front of their own fans, but once again manager Mark Stafford was hampered in his selection by injury and unavailability.  

Nathan Sherry, Jamie Dunne and Tiarnan Campbell were all starters against Armagh a week previously, but all three were unavailable for the game against Limavady.

Peter Maguire did make a return from injury at the heart of the defence, with Josh McIlwaine coming back into the eleven and Ultan O’Grady making his first league start of the campaign. 

For the tenth time in the league this season, the Mallards took the lead in a game, this time with just two minutes on the clock.

A throw-in on the left wing was controlled by McIlwaine before he hooked a high ball into the penalty area.

Under pressure from Danny Barker and Darragh Stewart, the Limavady defence allowed the ball to bounce on the edge of the six-yard box, and Stewart took advantage, pivoting to fire the loose ball past the keeper and notch his tenth goal of the season. 

Limavady had lost only one of their five league matches since going down at home to the Mallards, and as the first half progressed they started to gain the upper hand. They were rewarded with an equaliser from a corner after half an hour.  

A deep delivery beyond the far post was headed back into the six-yard box by Tiarnan Boorman, with the ball deflecting off Joe McCready and ricocheting between the legs of goalkeeper Joel Little to level the match. 

Darragh Stewart came close to adding a second when he got on the end of a near post corner, but his header from 10 yards flew over the crossbar as the game reached the halftime interval at one apiece. 

The previous week Ballinamallard had conceded early in the second half, and they repeated that error against Limavady as the visitors took the lead for the first time four minutes after the restart.  

A Limavady cross from the right wing was only partially cleared, and the away team headed the clearance back towards the edge of the Ballinamallard penalty area, where John Butcher controlled the high ball and slotted past Little. 

Ballinamallard switched formation to three at the back in a bid to find a way through the Limavady defence, but the visitors were able to nullify Ballinamallard in the closing stages as they held on to take the win and consign Ballinamallard to a third consecutive defeat.