VIDEO: Ferguson laments ‘criminal’ defending in weekend defeat

Glenn Ferguson was left to rue his side’s “criminal” defending in Saturday’s 2-1 Danske Bank Premiership defeat at Portadown.
Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals in Saturday's defeat at Portadown. Picture: Pacemaker Press.Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals in Saturday's defeat at Portadown. Picture: Pacemaker Press.
Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals in Saturday's defeat at Portadown. Picture: Pacemaker Press.

“I’m disappointed because I thought we could have capitalised more in the first half.

“It was a great ball into the box and Kyle McVey got a good contact on it.

“All you have to do when the ball is coming with pace like that is direct it - he didn’t lash at it.

Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals in Saturday's defeat at Portadown. Picture: Pacemaker Press.Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals in Saturday's defeat at Portadown. Picture: Pacemaker Press.
Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals in Saturday's defeat at Portadown. Picture: Pacemaker Press.

“We had more of the play and after getting the goal I thought we should have tried to push on.

“If Gary Thompson’s shot had gone in it would have put a completely different complexion on the game.

“The conditions were difficult but we didn’t manage the game well enough in the second half, albeit Portadown didn’t have their first shot on target until into the second half.

“We were pretty much in control of the game and keeping them at bay but then the two goals we conceded were criminal.

“They were mistakes from bad decision-making and you can’t give players like Gary Twigg opportunities like that in the penalty box.

“I’ll speak to Johnny Taylor about his sending off but the referee has made a decision and we have to deal with it.

“But even after Portadown had a man sent off, we still didn’t make the right decisions.

“Our play and decision-making was poor in the second half and if we had upped it even by 10 or 15 per cent, we would have got something from the game.

Portadown have better players than us in certain positions but when your attitude is right you can match them.

“Matthew Tipton tried hard but we were looking for leaders in different parts of the pitch and there were none of our players wanting to take a grip of the game in the second half and that disappointed me.

“Mark McAllister did that when he came on - he wanted the ball, he held people off and we needed that from our players,” added Ferguson.