Jim Ervin expecting 'a lot of ups and downs' in race for European play-off spot after Ballymena United's bid takes hit
Ballymena United boss Jim Ervin predicts there will be plenty of ups and downs in the race to finish seventh after his side’s own bid took a hit following “a bad day at the office” during their 2-1 defeat to Loughgall.
The Sky Blues fell behind following Benji Magee’s weaving run which ended with an emphatic strike beyond Sean O’Neill, but they responded through Daniel Lafferty – the former Northern Ireland international finishing off an exquisite pass from Aaron Jarvis.
Francis McCaffrey bundled home the winner from close range with 15 minutes left to play to hand Loughgall their first league win since beating Glenavon on November 2.
It leaves Ballymena sitting ninth, still only three points adrift of seventh-placed Cliftonville with Portadown also in the mix for a European play-off spot, but Saturday’s setback will undoubtedly feel like a missed opportunity for Ervin.
"I said to the boys before the game ‘don’t be coming into the changing room after going what if?’ and that’s exactly what has happened,” he reflected. "Loughgall are fighting for their lives and still feel they can stay in the division, so it was always going to be an extremely difficult game and you have to give respect to that.
"You have to push yourself to the extreme in order to get something from the game and if you’re not going to win then don’t lose it – we’ve lost on a really soft goal.
"The boys are saying it wasn’t over the line...we can’t see it because it’s at the other end of the pitch but it’s disappointing.
"We’ve got good footballers and the thing that hurts me more is we hardly played any football today.
"I know the pitch is difficult, weather and things like that, but it’s about playing in the right areas and I just felt we were so sloppy in our passing, our crossing was poor, shots were all over the place and it was one of those days where nothing seemed to fall for us.
"Maybe sometimes you try too hard and force yourself into mistakes, but it was a poor day at the office and we have to pick ourselves up.
"There’s only three points in it so it’s not like we’re a million miles away. There will be a lot of ups and downs until the last game.”