Loughgall captain Ben Murdock confident 'quality player' can help change club's Irish League fortunes
Loughgall captain Ben Murdock admits “life without Benji Magee has been tough” but has full faith that his side can turn their early season fortunes around and believes Nathaniel Ferris could have a big role to play.
Magee netted 16 Premiership goals for the Villagers as they returned to the top-flight in style last season and once at the start of the new campaign before joining reigning champions Larne, where he has already made a significant impact by helping them qualify for the UEFA Conference League.
While losing someone of Magee’s calibre would impact any Irish League side, Loughgall still have another star striker in their ranks with Ferris, who scored 15 times last term, bringing up his 200th club appearance during Tuesday’s defeat to Glentoran.
According to statistician Marshall Gillespie, 25-year-old Ferris has netted 81 times during his six years at Lakeview Park, including two this season against former club Portadown and Cliftonville.
Dean Smith’s men started the campaign with a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Carrick Rangers but have since gone six without a win, conceding 18 goals in the process, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Coleraine.
"He's quality and he has been around for years but is still only 25,” said Murdock on Ferris. "He has been fantastic and last season when Benji maybe wasn't firing on all cylinders Ferris stepped up and had a really good second-half to the season where Benji had a really good first-half.
"He's a quality player, a big player for us and I think he makes us tick. You definitely recognise when he's not in the team.
"Teams are bound to worry about coming up against him because he's a bit scary at times. He's a great player who contributes massively both on and off the ball and he works his socks off.
"He loves Loughgall and shows that in how he plays - that's the sort of player we need at Loughgall, especially in these dark times when we're in the trenches.
"I think he'll step up...he has contributed one or two goals already and he'll continue to do so."
Despite Magee’s absence, Loughgall haven’t struggled to score goals this season – only five teams have registered more than their nine – and Murdock says there will have to be more shared responsibility to continue that trend.
"Teams were (scared of Benji) and he was a huge threat and nobody wanted to play against him, especially in the first-half of the season - teams couldn't figure him out,” he added. "He was so quick, so energetic and he was such a great outlet for us.
"Yes, we got a lot of goals through Benji and even in the games he wasn't performing he still always popped up with a goal.
"Life without Benji has been tough - it's not just all about him but it's definitely a huge asset we've lost and it will take time to replace someone like Benji.
"We were lucky to have him and he contributed so much to last season and the season before.
"It has been difficult not having that player up there or even coming off the bench - he was an absolute impact substitution, which he hated being, but he was so good in the last 15 or 20 minutes.
"As a centre-half like myself, he's the last person you'd want to see coming on to play against you.
"Hopefully the boys we do have, like Jay Boyd coming back who is another great asset to have, I'm sure it's a matter of time before we start ticking again and goals need to pop up from all round the team - it can't just be reliance on one player."