Ballymena United switched off and it cost us a win against Newry City: Jim Ervin

Jim Ervin was angered by Ballymena's failure to see off Newry

On the outside looking in, Friday evening’s 1-1 draw away to Newry City may have seemed like a good result for Ballymena United, but manager Jim Ervin says he was left “extremely disappointed” with how things played out.

The draw means that the Sky Blues keep their six-point gap over bottom-placed Newry, but Ervin says his team travelled to The Showgrounds with hopes of claiming the win, and the manner in which they threw away points left him dismayed.

“No, I wouldn’t,” he answered when asked would he have taken a draw before kick-off.

“I’m extremely disappointed, because I thought that we controlled the game from start to finish, and we had a lapse in concentration after scoring the goal.

“We switched off and allowed a free header from a corner, with the only chance that they created all game.

“The way I approached the game was that we had to extend the gap to nine. Yes, it was important that they didn’t make any ground on us, but you still can’t get away from the fact that three points were snatched from us — and it was our own fault.”

Indeed, when substitute Noah Stewart buried Sean Brown’s cross on 73 minutes, United were full value for their lead. However, Newry responded three minutes later when Adam Salley headed home.

With 11 games left to save themselves from the drop, City chief Barry Gray concedes that they don’t have much time to turn things around.

“We’re looking for confidence in terms of how players pass the ball, how they’re front-footed, their willingness to attack and take risks in areas where when you’re low on confidence, maybe you don’t,” he said.

“And we see that improving on the training pitch, and we see that improving in certain