Killymoon Rangers finished their season on a high completing their first back to back league victories of the season when they put in an excellent performance to defeat Ballyclare Comrades at Dixon Park. After struggling to get a win for the most of the season the Cookstown side have won 4 of their final 9 games of the season, but unfortunately it was too late to avoid relegation.
Killymoon gave Gareth McElhatton his first game for the first team after being the understudy to Gareth Maguire for the season. The young keeper has put in some excellent performances for the reserves, but has not been able to replace the in-form Maguire however, he didn't disappoint on his debut with an impressive display in difficult conditions.
As with many end of season games, both sides seemed relaxed and played some neat football despite the poor weather conditions and uneven playing surface. G McElhatton was called upon early on to deal with a number of half chances for the home side and on one occasion was hurt saving bravely at the feet of a Ballyclare forward. The visitors also had a number of chances to open the scoring and Richard Donaghy nearly finished off a sweeping move down the left, but his effort was blocked. Although both sides created a number of opportunities in the first half it was the defences that held strong to ensure there was no score at the interval. (HT 0-0)
The deadlock was eventually broken 10 minutes into the second half with the industrious Lee Hunter playing a big part in it. There seemed to be no danger as a long ball went back to the home keeper, but he was quickly closed down by Hunter and mishit his clearance to Donaghy 35 yards from goal. The young striker took one touch before blasting the ball back over the keeper's head into the roof of the net (1-0). At this point Killymoon started to get the upper hand and Kyle Ferguson had a golden opportunity to make it 2 when after good work from Warren Smith. Ferguson had only a defender on the goal line to beat, but the midfielder snatched at the chance and the Ballyclare keeper eventually got his hands on the ball despite his own defender nearly knocking it over his goal line. The play flowed from end to end as Ballyclare pushed for the equaliser and Killymoon looked to kill the game off. The normally reliable Smith should have done this but he lifted the ball over the crossbar with only the keeper to beat and J Young perfectly positioned in space to his left. Donaghy also had a chance from a Patrick McElhatton corner, but he was unable to direct it on target. Martin Bogan made a welcome return to the first team in the final 15 minutes, replacing the hard working K Ferguson in the centre of midfield as Ballyclare started to push the visitors' defence back. G McElhatton was called upon to make a number of good saves to preserve Killymoon's lead but the home side eventually got back on level terms with only 4 minutes remaining when a high ball into the penalty area wasn't dealt with and was headed into the Killymoon net (1-1). This lifted the home support, but within a minute it was the visitors who were cheering when Donaghy got his second of the game after another mistake by the home keeper. A through ball was looked to have been gathered by the keeper, but Donaghy didn't give up and was rewarded when the ball slipped from the keeper's grasp. There was still a lot of work for the front man as he got his body between the ball and the keeper before swivelling and lobbing the ball over the Ballyclare stopper into the net from a narrow angle (2-1). Both of his goals showed his natural goal scoring instinct and he should have wrapped up his hat-trick a minute later when he broke free of the defence, but this time the keeper was equal to the task with a good save. Gareth Maguire replaced G McElhatton in the final few minutes to ensure that he became the only Killymoon player to play in every game this season. Killymoon were able to hold out until the final whistle to add a victory to the draw earlier in the season with their hosts.
Both sides deserved a lot of credit for playing some exciting football in terrible conditions and not only have Killymoon finished the season strongly, but they have given vital experience to a number of young players who have not let them down, including impressive performances by both full backs Simon Young and James Ferguson.
After a long and at times difficult season the positive finish is no more than the team has deserved and the club can look forward to next season with plenty of optimism. The joint managers, Michael and Mark Wilson would like to thank physio Ian Wylie, team attendant Barry Fluke and coaches Brian McGarry and Jackie Carson for their invaluable help this season and the also the committee and players for their backing during the year.
