Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAXIE SWAIN
NEW Ballinamallard United schemer Richard Clarke is steeling himself for a different kind of challenge after swapping Seaview for Ferney Park over the summer.
The 31-year-old midfielder, capped seven times for the Northern Ireland under-21 side, has grown accustomed to life in the upper echelons of the Danske Bank Premiership following four years and two titles at Crusaders.
Indeed, the Hatchetmen appeared nailed on to make it three in a row last season, only to go uncharacteristically off the boil during the crunch final weeks of the campaign, conceding just enough ground to allow a resurgent Linfield to pip them to the post.
Having made the switch to Ballinamallard during the close season, however, it’s fair to say those kinds of pulsating climaxes are a thing of the past, to be replaced by pressure of a different hue, the kind where survival is the name of the game.
Of course that’s not the limit of Ballinamallard’s or manager Gavin Dykes’ ambition, but after finishing one place above the play-off places last season, and edging Institute the season before in a Premiership play-off, history suggests that is the reality for one of the league’s minnows.
Be that as it may, Clarke is unfazed by the very different expectations at his new club, and after making his debut in a 2-1 defeat to Glentoran on the opening day of the season at the weekend is excited about nailing down a first team place having found opportunities limited at Crusaders last season.
“I hadn’t been playing as much for Crusaders towards the end of the season so I decided myself that I probably needed to move,” explained Clarke.
“Even if we had have won the league I was definitely moving on, I had made up my own mind and to be honest I was only really interested in moving to Ballinamallard because of its location, it’s quite handy to home [in Castlederg].”
Reflecting on his three-and-a-half seasons at Crusaders, Clarke says his abiding memory, even more than all the glory, is the strong team spirit at Seaview.
“Obviously, the two league titles stand out for me,” said
Clarke.
“I had won everything apart from the league before I went to
Crusaders, and it was sweet to win it there, just because of the whole atmosphere around the club, it’s a family club and all the board are supporters too, it’s just a special club.
“And to achieve such honours with them is special, but I think mainly probably the stand-out thing is the togetherness of the squad.
“The trips we had away to Europe, the togetherness in the dressing room and the camaraderie we had was just special, I made a lot of friends there.” Clarke reckons he played his best football in his first full season with the club, dovetailing superbly with Declan Caddell (inset) in the middle of the park as the Crues stormed their way to a first title in almost 20 years.
He admits he didn’t expect to dethrone Cliftonville so soon into his spell in north Belfast, and has predicted Stephen Baxter’s men will continue to be a major force for years to come.
“It wasn’t until midway through my first season that I started to realise that maybe we have an opportunity here,” said Clarke, who was first blooded by Roy Mccreadie at Omagh Town as a 16-year-old.
“I think we had to go to Portadown and get a result, otherwise we were out of it, and we did that and then put a run together. I think we did pretty much what Linfield did to us last season, we gained momentum and got our noses in front.
“The likes of Paul Heatley was scoring every week as was big Jordan [Owens] and it was just momentum that took us there.
“And I think Stephen [Baxter] and the club deserve a lot of credit for it because financially they are probably not on the same level as some of the other clubs, although that has changed with the success they have had.
“It was the best team I played in, no doubt about it, with the quality and standard of player they have all over the pitch.
“The competition for places is frightening, there are two players for every position and they won’t be going anywhere over the next four or five years, that’s for sure.” Clarke arrived at Crusaders in 2014 from Glentoran who, as reigning champions four years earlier, had prevailed in a tug-of-war with Linfield