Killymoon Rangers journey in the Mid-Ulster Cup ended last week when they lost a hard fought match against a young, but strong Newry City side. Made up with the majority of reserve players City started brightly and it took a couple of excellent saves from Gareth Maguire to prevent the home side from breaking the deadlock. As the game progressed Killymoon started to find their feet and were unlucky not to take the lead themselves when a dangerous cross from Conall Kilpatrick was cleared to the edge of the City penalty area where Warren Smith unleashed a vicious shot that the home keeper could only parry, but Martin Bogan was unable to direct his header into the net from the rebound. William Montgomery also had a chance to test the City keeper shortly after but his shot went well wide after some neat build-up play from Killymoon. City were fortunate not to have their captain dismissed for a recklessly late tackle on Montgomery and he made Killymoon pay with the last kick of the half when he converted a penalty after Maguire had fouled an inrushing City forward.

To add to Killymoon’s misfortune they lost David McMullan to injury at half-time and before they could regain their shape they found themselves 2 down when a deflected cross somehow found it’s way into the Killymoon net and shortly after they lost Kilpatrick to an ankle injury.

To Killymoon’s credit they started to get into the match after these setbacks but were continually frustrated by some strange decisions by the referee, including letting the City captain off with just a caution after another late and dangerous tackle. With time running out Killymoon got a lifeline when a period of sustained pressure resulted in Warren Smith shooting home from a narrow angle however, their delight was short lived as City regained their 2 goal advantage a minute later to progress into the next round.

With nothing going Killymoon’s way on or off the field they were just glad to get the fixture over and concentrate on getting back to winning ways.

Team: Gareth Maguire, Nigel Purvis, Conal Kilpatrick, Gareth McFarland, Adrian Ferson, Stephen Purvis, David McMullan, Marc Stewart, Warren Smith, Martin Bogan, William Montgomery, Subs 12. Kyle Smith, 13. Cameron Stewart 14. Francisco Gomes