Killymoon Rangers returned to league action after a 2 month break with a difficult home tie against joint league leaders Lurgan Town. With Conall Kilpatrick and Conor Marlin missing due to injury and David McMullan and Steven McElhatton unavailable Killymoon were forced to re-jig their team as they tried to get back into the race for the league title.

The match started at a frantic pace with very little between the teams, but on 10 minutes the match burst into life. A ball into the Lurgan penalty area looked to be going to the visitors keeper but the ball spun away from him when in hit the ground and into the path of Marc Stewart who knocked the ball past the advancing keeper only to be taken down and the referee had no option to award a penalty. The keeper stayed on the pitch as there was a covering defender but he was helpless as Nigel Purvis took responsibility and gave his side the lead from the penalty spot for his first goal of the season. This opened the game up and it was the home side who looked more likely to score the next goal with William Montgomery bringing out a good save from the Lurgan keeper with a long range shot and Stewart clipping the top of the cross-bar with a snap shot from the edge of the penalty area. On 20 minutes the home side did get their second when Adrian Ferson deceived everyone with a long ball from inside the Killymoon half that landed at the feet of Stewart who lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper before going around the keeper to knock the ball into the empty net. Again Stewart showed his natural instinct for goal and re-enforced his managers belief in him with another cool finish. After this the match became more physical with the referee having a difficult time keeping all the players in check. Despite being 2 goals down Lurgan, as expected, as expected worked hard at getting back into the match but were restricted to long range efforts as Killymoon’s defence of Nigel Purvis, Adrian Ferson and Gareth McFarland putting a brick wall up in front of keeper Gareth Maguire. With a couple of minutes left in the half Lurgan got back into the game when for the first time the home side switched off to allow a corner to the front post to be converted despite 3 Killymoon players being around the scorer.

Killymoon’s biggest task in the second half was to keep discipline as Lurgan would throw everything at them in order to get back on level terms. The second half was again very physical with no quarter given by either side with Killymoon’s make shift midfield all putting in excellent performances with Patrick McElhatton taking the pressure off the back line with some jinking runs that continually caused trouble to the Lurgan defence. Martin Bogan dropped into the midfield to cope with the visitors who pushed an extra player into the middle as they started to push the home side back. Although they edged possession Lurgan still found it difficult to get a clear shot at goal, but when they finally did get a chance their substitute snatched at the ball and his shot went well wide with the goal at his mercy. Killymoon were relying on the break and with Lurgan taking chances the home side should have extended their lead on a number of occasions with Warren Smith having the best chance near the end, but his shot was saved by the keeper and eventually cleared by a covering defender. After nearly 5 minutes added time the referee eventually blew the final whistle to the relief of the Killymoon support to end a very competitive match between to hard working teams.

This was an excellent all round performance by Killymoon who showed they could play attractive football, work hard as a team and show great character to hold out and take all 3 points in a very important match. The result will allow the players to enjoy a well earned festive break and all involved at the club wish all the supporters and sponsors a wonderful Christmas.

Team: Gareth Maguire, Nigel Purvis, Adrian Ferson, Gareth McFarland
Francisco Gomes, Stephen Purvis, Marc Stewart, Patrick McElhatton, Warren Smith, Martin Bogan, William Montgomery Subs: Kyle Smith, Cameron Stewart, Daryl Flanagan