Irish League boss 'starting to question myself' after 'criminal' penalty leads to defeat

Ryan McNickle converted a late penalty after Adam Carroll had earned the spot-kick, registering his ninth league goal of what has been an impressive first campaign at the Showgrounds since joining from Lisburn Distillery in the summer.

Newry were winless in their last seven league matches prior to a weekend trip to Clandeboye Park and the victory also marked a memorable milestone for boss Darren Mullen with it his 200th win in 384 games at the helm, according to statistician Newry Football Memories.

They are still sitting in 11th, but have opened up a four-point advantage on bottom side Newington and closed the gap on nearest rivals Ballinamallard United to three after Mark Stafford’s men were defeated 3-0 by Annagh United – Ryan Swan netting a first half hat-trick.

Ards have now lost three on the trot, including consecutive 1-0 defeats following last weekend’s loss to Ballinamallard, and Bailie, who took over at the County Down club for a second time in January, feels his side aren’t being ruthless enough in front of goal.

"Yeah (it's a missed opportunity),” he told the club’s media channel. “Last week was a missed opportunity and there's been three or four games that have been missed opportunities where we have came off the back of a 1-0 and while the games have been tight we've arguably had the better of the chances.

"The bottom line is we haven't done enough and that has happened too many times. We haven't had enough quality in the final third, we haven't scored when we've been on top in games and we've questioned the players there today.

"I'm now starting to question myself because I'm here now 12 months and I'm seeing the same pattern develop that I came in to and that's not a good place. We can't have 60% or 70% of the ball and come off losing 1-0 and that's happened the last two weeks.

"Performance-wise it has been okay and there have been positive signs in the performances, but we've created very little and the opportunities we have created we've missed."

The nature of the penalty which his side conceded particularly frustrated Bailie with Ards now facing consecutive matches against high-flying Annagh, Bangor and Dundela to round out 2024 before taking on Ballymena United in the Irish Cup fifth round.

"We need to learn to take chances,” he added. “When chances come your way you have to punish teams and we've struggled to do that.

"We need to manage games a lot better too. With eight minutes to go we're in control of the game and sometimes you have to just take your point and get on with it...to concede the penalty we have is criminal, really poor on our part.

"I'm not trying to pass the buck because the buck stops with me."