Ballinamallard 1-2 Carrick Rangers

10 man Carrick Rangers earned a second succesive victory at Ferney Park on Saturday to reclaim ground on the ninth placed Mallards.

The game was switched to Ferney Park because Taylor's Avenue was unplayable which left the Mallards with a fantastic opportunity to open up a gap with successive home games against Carrick and Dungannon, but alas, they have fallen at the first hurdle.

Johnny Lafferty headed into his own net on 8 minutes to give Carrick the lead, but James McKenna responded with a header before half time.

Carrick's Conor McCloskey was shown a straight red card by referee Ian McNabb after he had clashed with James McKenna in an eventful first half.

With an extra man, the home side looked to push on for victory and Jason McCartney went close with a long range drive hitting the post. Alvin Rouse produced a stunning save to deny Miguel Chines, whose lob looked to be hitting the back of the net, but Rouse somehow tipped the ball over the bar.

John Currie had a great chance to score but failed to hit the target before Aaron Traynor waltzed through the Mallards defence to score on 75 minutes and claim victory.

The winner of the half time draw was Dean Kirkpatrick with ticket number 13394.

Many thanks to our ball sponsor - Ray Williams of the Hogan Stand bar in Santa Ponza.