Fermanagh's finest

The first Erne County luminary I bumped into, standing on the terraces, was Jim Cleary - who started his career with Enniskillen Rangers before moving to Glentoran.

It was during his time at the Oval that the man with the magical left foot earned international recognition and he was a member of the Northern Ireland 1982 World Cup squad.

Preferring the relative luxury of the Directors' Box were two former Ballinamallard players who have gone on to bigger and better things.

Current first choice Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll was joined by several team mates enjoying some down time after the game in Russia, most notably Andrew Little.

Both wore broad grins at the final whistle shortly after Jason McCartney had gleefully banged home the winner in stoppage time.

It was no 'Little' achievement but no more than the Mallards deserved as they had the better of the second half chances having seen two attempts rebound off the woodwork.

Some people had been writing Whitey Anderson's side off after their 4-1 midweek defeat by Glentoran and Cliftonville's 2-1 success over Ballymena which had propelled the Reds to the top of the table.

I said after watching the Mallards beat Distillery 5-0 on Matchday two that I expect them to surprise a few people this season and suggested they could even make the top six.

On Saturday I saw nothing to contradict this view as Ballinamallard continue to play attractive football and keep the ball on the ground as much as possible.

It was also heartening to see an away team not settling for a point as so many would have against opponents who were in such a lofty position in the table.

All things considered it's shaping up to be quite a title race if the first six rounds of matches are anything to go by.

Not only had we the result at Solitude, we also had previously win-less Glenavon beating Crusaders, who, of course had shocked Linfield midweek.

And no one will write off the Blues after their impressive 4-2 win at Portadown as the topsy-turvy sequence of results continues with Glentoran perhaps surprising a few people as well in view of their financial worries.

No doubt that will please the Glens' former great Jim Cleary who had double cause for celebration with the Glens seeing off the Swifts and Fermanagh's finest Mark II doing the business at Solitude.