By Jonathan Brown
IT’S been a tough start to the season for Ballynahinch United.
After opening their campaign with a 6-1 defeat to Shorts, the Millbridge men lost 8-2 to Castlewellan and 5-1 to Portavogie.
They then shipped another eight goals in defeat against Bloomfield last Thursday before losing again to Grove United on Saturday, ahead of tomorrow night’s game against Ballywalter Rec.
Manager Jonny Smyth explained some of the reasons behind the slow start and tried to put the situation into perspective.
“We’ve started with three defeats so far. We’re playing Thursday-Saturday, Thursday-Saturday, so we’re getting one-day breaks between games.
“We’ve also played Shorts and Castlewellan – two teams that will probably be in the top three positions this year. Castlewellan will get promoted, I imagine, and Shorts will be in and around there.
“So we’ve played good teams,” the UEFA ‘C’ Licence coach said.
United have also been impacted by the formation of Ballynahinch Rangers, a new club based on the Langley Road that will play in the Mid-Ulster League this season.
Dawson Kelly, Ben Maxwell, Jude Kelly, Justin Herbert, Harry Wilson and Tyler Dickson have all left the club to join Rangers.
Adrian Mee, Chris Coleman and John McMenamin have all retired, while Tom Nelson and Glenn Moffett have also left the club.
It’s been a summer of upheaval that has left Smyth with just three first-team regulars from last season’s squad.
Smyth, who joined Hinch in November of last year from Down Area Winter Football League side Newtown Forest, says it’s an issue that has been looming over the club since relegation from the Amateur League 1B division in the 2021/22 season.
“We’ve lost a lot of our younger players to Ballynahinch Rangers, which probably hasn’t helped.
“And some of the players we had planned to build the team around have retired or left the club, but I wish all those that have retired or moved on well.
“The club lost players when they were relegated from the 1B division, and it seems that players that have been at the club for 10 or 15 years have grown old together and they haven’t had the churn of younger players coming in over the years.”
