COLIN MILLAR JASON IS A MALLARDS ARGONAUT

By Winger Mccartney is stuff of heroes as he marks 300 club appearances with two goals

JASON Mccartney enjoyed the perfect Christmas present as he netted a double in his 300th appearance for Ballinamallard United on Boxing Day. The long-serving winger – who initially joined the club from Sligo Rovers in January 2011 – scored twice in the derby win over Dergview to mark the occasion.

It is a remarkable achievement and mark of commitment for any player, but particularly so for a player who has had to travel across a border for almost a decade.

“It’s the people at this club make it so special,” Mccartney explained to Match on Tuesday.

“I started at Sligo Rovers and was at Monaghan, Limerick, Longford and Athlone, then I went back to Sligo – so you’re at all those clubs playing football, but it never felt like anything more than that. “It was different at Ballinamallard – there is a special bond and you get to know everyone at a personal level, getting to chat to them after every game, and that makes a difference. “You know people throughout the club by their first names and that is a massive part of it for me. “I have had offers to go to other clubs throughout that time but I already knew how tough it was to find that happiness and enjoy football at one club, so I have decided to stay.”

Mccartney celebrated his 33rd birthday in September but has shown no signs of slowing down and is important as ever for the Mallards – he is their second top league scorer this campaign with seven strikes to his name to date. “Mark Emerson from the club told me early on in November that I was in-line to have the milestone against Queen’s if I played every game, but a few weeks ago I got married so it pushed it back,” continued the winger.

“Obviously it was very fitting that it ended up with the game on Boxing Day – a local derby, scoring two goals and having my two kids watching it made it even more special.

“The match was a really hard-fought game and the scoreline isn’t reflective of the match – the first goal was always really important.

“We showed a different side to us as well – I think we have a reputation for being a footballing team but games like this show we can match the physicality too.”

It was Harry Mcconkey’s side fourth league win in a row and their 13th in 16 outings, meaning the gap to league leaders Portadown remains at just three points.

“This year has been truly special for the club,” added Mccartney.

“The cup final gave us all a taste of being involved in the very biggest matches and it’s made us all want that even more on a regular basis.

“That was massive, especially for all the younger lads, and it’s helped us forward this season because you can see a difference in the players – especially the younger lads.

“They have a real fight about them, they have taken their games on to the next level and now we all feel like we are in a title fight and we are aiming to be top of it in a few months time.

“Things are great at the moment – we go into every game feeling we can win.

“There is a real togetherness here in the squad and everyone knows they will fight for each other, and that is the catalyst for our run of results.

“Now we have every confidence going into games now and it’s the complete opposite feeling of what happened last year.”

Last year’s beaten

Irish Cup finalists will start their campaign in the competition by hosting Premier

Intermediate side

Dollingstown on

Saturday, with a

3pm start at Ferney

Park. 31.12.2019