Ballinamallard manager Gavin Dykes was disappointed that his side were left empty handed on Saturday when they went down 2-1 to Linfield at Ferney Park.
However, the Mallards chief was pleased with the performance of his side and is now hoping that they can go on and take something from their second home game of the season this Saturday when they host Ballymena United.
“I was very happy with the performance but disappointed with the result as I thought we should have got something out of it,” he said. “I thought for long periods of the game, especially in the second half, we were the better side, but it is a learning process. We had a lot of young players and I felt they did themselves proud but it’s no good having a moral victory, we’ve got to push on now and try and get something out of Ballymena on Saturday.”
Dykes gave debuts to young centre halves Ryan McConnell and Ross Taheny, who formed part of a very youthful defence that also included Ryan Morris and Davy Elliott, as well as attacker Shane McGinty and all three impressed.
And despite coming up against a Linfield side who will be expected to challenge for the title, Dykes says he had no problem whatsoever in playing the young lads in the game.
“I have no fear of putting young players in. Yes, they will make mistakes but they will make mistakes trying to do the right things. It doesn’t matter what age they are, if they are good enough and their attitude is good enough I don’t fear putting young lads in against anybody,” he said.
The Mallards enjoyed plenty of possession throughout the contest against David Healy’s Blues which is something that the new manager wants from his side.
“We are slowly trying to change the mindset of the players. We want to try and keep the ball as much as we can and that requires people to be brave. We had an exceptionally young back four, that did really well against an experienced Linfield team, and they did well not only defensively but also in keeping the football which is what we want them to do. The two goals were disappointing but we are going to make mistakes. However, any time you are dominating possession against Linfield you are doing something right, especially as it was really our first competitive game.”
Dykes is starting to put his imprint on the side and feels he is getting a good blend to the squad.
“One of the things I wanted to do when I took over was to add a bit of pace and energy to the team and we have done that. The young lads have come in and done well but I also think the senior lads have been good. Lafferty and Lecky were good and I thought Shane McCabe was excellent. The senior lads have an important role to play.”
Prior to the game Dykes felt the players might have been undercooked fitness wise after a late start to pre-season following the play-off tie at the end of last season that dragged on to the end of June. However, that was not the case.
“The most pleasing aspect for me was our fitness levels, “ said Dykes. “In the last ten minutes Linfield looked tired and we kept going which really surprised me and that’s a great credit to Steve and backroom staff. In fairness the players have bought into it and they have taken on board what we wanted.”
After last night’s game against Portadown the focus has now switched to the home clash with Ballymena. David Jeffrey’s outfit were well beaten by Crusaders on the opening day but Dykes is not reading anything into that and instead is concentrating on getting his own side right.
“In the first game of the season anything can happen and Crusaders on their day can do that to anyone, that’s why they are the champions, and I know David will be looking for a reaction. My focus though is on what we do, not what other teams do. I can only control what Ballinamallard United players do. It is a tough week with Portadown on Wednesday night and then Ballymena on Saturday but we will be trying to pick up points and I believe we can do that,” he added.
Liam Flatley is not expected to return until the Carrick game the following week but captain James McKenna should be back.
“Flatley is more likely to be ready for the Carrick game but James will be back and he is a big player for us,” added Dykes, who also confirmed that he has released Cathal Beacom. “Cathal has been a good servant to the club but I just thought we had to move things in a different direction.  I wish Cathal all the best,” he said.