Ballina Town aiming for improved Super League fortunes in 2026

MICK Duffy is targeting improvement across the board as Ballina Town prepare for a new Super League campaign.

After finishing fourth last season, Duffy is keen to build on what he describes as a first full year of
learning and development.

“We want to improve on last year’s final position, but more importantly on our overall consistency of performance,” he said.

“There’s strong competition there — Westport, Castlebar, Ballyheane, Manulla — so we’ll focus on ourselves and try to be better than we were in lots of different ways.”

Ballina lost six matches on their way to fourth, and Duffy believes that was part of the growth process.

Integrating new players and adjusting to different roles inevitably brought fluctuations in results.

However, he points to several strong performances as evidence of the squad’s potential. With relationships on the pitch now more established, he expects greater cohesion this season.

The headline addition is David Cawley, whose experience at League of Ireland level brings quality and
leadership.

He has already made an impact in pre-season. Duffy also highlighted the influence Cawley can have on emerging players such as Jack O’Brien, Jamie Moyles and Daire O’Connor.

Young prospect Joe Siegman has stepped up from within the club, adding further depth.

There have been departures. Tiernan Tighe and Cathair Tighe have committed to Gaelic football, while
Óisín Tighe is moving on.

Duffy acknowledged those as losses but stressed the importance of having players fully committed to the soccer programme.

On that point, he is clear. Balancing multiple sports at a high level is difficult, and Duffy prefers to work with players who can dedicate themselves entirely to Ballina Town.

“If you commit fully to a sport, you can do great things,” he said, emphasising that his stance is based on experience rather than any criticism of other codes.

The introduction of the split-season format is another unknown. Duffy welcomed the Mayo League’s
willingness to address issues such as heavy, one-sided results, recalling.

“Heavy defeats benefit nobody,” he said. Whether the new structure will solve those problems remains to be seen, but he supports the effort to improve competitiveness and morale across the division.

As for the title race, Duffy said that Castlebar Celtic and Westport United remain the obvious benchmarks given recent seasons.

Ballina aim to close that gap. Asked to name a player from another club he would like to sign, Duffy declined, wary of showing disrespect to fellow managers — a response that underlines his focus on developing what he already has within his own squad.