They say a week is a long time in football and this was definitely the case for Killymoon Rangers when after producing one of their worst displays in many years followed it up seven days later with an excellent performance to beat Lisburn Distillery 2nds in the Intermediate Cup. On an unusually mild November afternoon the Killymoon side showed a number of changes from the previous Saturday with Patrick McElhatton and William Montgomery coming into the starting line up along with debutante Conor Marlin. With the Ballyskeagh pitch in excellent condition the first half saw both teams work hard without many clear cut chances being created. Killymoon’s first real chance saw P. McElhatton hit a half chance over the home crossbar. With the experienced Darren Armour leading the Lisburn attack the visitor’s defence had to be alert and to their credit Steven McElhatton, Gareth McFarland and Conall Kilpatrick dealt comfortably with the visitors with the main threat coming from set pieces, but despite a few scrambles Gareth Maguire in the Killymoon goal was rarely troubled.

Killymoon came out in the second half full of intent and should have opened the scoring on a number of occasions. The first came within 2 minutes of the restart when P. McElhatton received the ball in front of goal from a Montgomery cross, but the young striker could saw his effort go narrowly wide. The visitors continued to open up the Lisburn defence with some excellent passing but were unable to get make the break through their play deserved. David McMullan nearly open up the home side when he intercepted a cross field ball before driving into the opposition’s half but he took his shot early and his effort didn't trouble the Lisburn keeper. Killymoon’s failure to convert their chances was punished 15 minutes into the second half when Lisburn were awarded a penalty after the right winger was adjudged to have been fouled after bursting into the visitor’s penalty area. Armour made no mistake from the spot to give the home side the lead against the run of play. This gave the young home side a boost and they started to knock the ball around with confidence.

Despite playing some neat football Lisburn still found it difficult to get through the stubborn Killymoon defence and with 20 minutes left it was the visitor’s who started to create some clear cut chances with firstly Warren Smith hitting the crossbar with a looping effort and then Martin Bogan should have done better when he received the ball 8 yards from goal, but the big forward couldn't get the ball under control and despite knocking the ball over the keeper’s head the ball was cleared to safety. Killymoon eventually got what they deserved a couple of minutes from time, but it came from a mistake from the home keeper. A straightforward ball was knocked back to the keeper but as he went to clear it from the inrushing Warren Smith he slipped and left Smith with the simple task of rolling the ball into the empty net. This season Killymoon have been guilty of not making the most of the situations when they are on top, but this was not the case last Saturday when they left Lisburn shell-shocked when they took the lead 3 minutes after drawing level. A quick throw by McMullan released W. Smith down the right and the striker cut in and struck a fierce cross shot which the keeper parried out but the ball fell perfectly to Bogan who made no mistake this time smashing the ball into the net despite being under pressure from a defender. Kyle and Brian Smith were brought on by Killymoon to defend their lead and although the visitors pushed Killymoon back into their own half Maguire was only required to make one save low to his right as the visitors defended in numbers. W. Smith should have wrapped up the game in the dying minutes however, after being released by Bogan he saw his effort well saved by the home keeper. Thankfully Killymoon didn't live to regret this as the referee blew the final whistle to give the Cookstown outfit their first victory over an Irish Premier league’s second string.

Joint manager Michael Wilson was delighted after the result saying ‘Today’s result showed the character of this team. After last week’s dismal performance they took a lot of criticism but worked very hard during training and continued it against a talented young Lisburn team to record an excellent victory. Hopefully this will finally get our season started and we can go on a decent winning run.’

Despite just returning from injury to finally make his debut for Killymoon Conor Marlin can be pleased with his performance and hopefully with some match practice he can have a big influence on the remainder of Killymoon’s season.

Gareth Maguire, Conal Kilpatrick, Gareth McFarland, Steven McElhatton, Stephen Purvis, Patrick McElhatton, David McMullan, Conor Marlin, Warren Smith, Martin Bogan, William Montgomery Subs 12. Marc Stewart
13. Kyle Smith 14. Brian Smith