Ballinamallard United suffered their second successive 1-0 home defeat as a second-half penalty handed recently promoted Rathfriland Rangers all three points at Ferney Park on Friday evening.

Stephen McCavitt's 56th-minute spot-kick proved decisive in a frustrating encounter for the Mallards, who were unable to find a response despite creating opportunities to get back into the game.

The defeat was another blow to Ballinamallard's hopes of turning around their disappointing home form, with Mark Stafford's side now having suffered four league defeats at Ferney Park this season.

It also saw the Mallards slip to seventh in the NIFL Championship table, with their recent struggles in front of goal continuing.

They have now failed to score more than once in any of their last four matches.

Stafford made two changes to his attacking line-up as he searched for a spark in the final third, with Danny Barker and Marc Walsh returning to the starting eleven.

Tommy Connolly and Jay Ely dropped to the bench following the previous weekend's defeat against Armagh City.

However, it was another frustrating evening for the home side, who struggled to create clear-cut opportunities during a largely uneventful first half.

There was little to separate the teams in the opening period, with both defences on top and neither goalkeeper called into serious action.

Ballinamallard did manage to fashion a couple of promising openings, the best of which came when Darragh Byrne threaded an excellent pass through the Rathfriland defence to release Ryan Mayse.

The Mallards forward found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Ryan Dalzell, but the Rathfriland stopper reacted well to make an important save and deny the home side an opening goal.

Mayse was presented with another opportunity when Ballinamallard goalkeeper Kyle Gabbidon spotted his run and sent a long ball over the top of the visitors' defence.

The pass looked set to put the striker through on goal, but a heavy first touch allowed Dalzell to race from his line and gather possession before Mayse could get a shot away.

Despite those openings, neither side managed to establish any real attacking momentum and the teams went into the interval with the scoreline goalless.

The decisive moment arrived 11 minutes into the second half when Rathfriland were awarded a penalty.

Ballinamallard left-back Jamie Johnston was adjudged to have bundled into an opposing player inside the penalty area, leaving referee with little hesitation in pointing to the spot.

McCavitt stepped forward to take responsibility and, although Gabbidon guessed correctly and dived in the right direction, the Rathfriland striker's effort squeezed past the Mallards goalkeeper and into the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Ballinamallard were now faced with the task of finding a response, but clear opportunities remained difficult to come by as Rathfriland looked to protect their advantage.

The Mallards thought they had found the breakthrough when a promising attacking move down the right flank resulted in the ball being put into the net, only for the assistant referee's flag to deny them an equaliser.

Ronan Hutchins and Sean McEvoy combined intelligently, with McEvoy producing a clever backheel to release Hutchins down the right.

Hutchins cut inside onto his left foot before getting a shot away, his effort striking the post and deflecting along the byline.

McEvoy reacted quickly to collect the loose ball and drilled a low delivery across the six-yard box, where Barker arrived to turn it home.

However, the celebrations were short-lived as the assistant referee raised the flag for offside, with the goal ruled out.

It was a particularly frustrating moment for the Mallards, who had been searching for a way back into the game and looked to have found it through a well-worked attacking move.

Instead, Rathfriland held on to their advantage to secure a valuable victory on the road and leave Ballinamallard reflecting on another disappointing night at Ferney Park.