Enniskillen Town 4 NFC Kesh 2

Cathal Beacom hit a hat-trick as Enniskillen Town took the spoils against ten man NFC Kesh at St Michael’s Pavilion on Saturday.

The sides were level at 1-1 at half time before Kesh then lost Cashel to a second yellow card which resulted in Beacom making it 2-1 to Town from the penalty spot.

Kesh responded through player manager Ryan Campbell to quickly equalise but Brendan Lilley nudged the home side ahead before Beacom wrapped up the result in added on time.

“I think we deserved the win but we definitely showed nervousness late on, probably because we knew the quality that Kesh have and we were only able to breathe easy after we got our fourth.

“It was a good quality game between two good sides,” said Town boss Rory Judge.

Kesh counterpart Ryan Campbell felt that Cashel’s dismissal was the key moment in the game.

“When I look back at the game as whole I was happy enough with how we played but the red card definitely was a changing point. It came early in the second half and while it was a penalty I thought a second yellow was harsh.

“When you go down to ten men for so long against a side with the quality that Town have then it is always going to be difficult although the boys really dug in.

“I do think though that if we had kept ten men on we might have got something out of the game,” he said.

It was nip and tuck in the opening minutes of the contest but the home side went on to open the scoring with the first real opportunity of the game. Frank Wallace fired in a cross from the right and Beacom was on hand to bundle home for his first of the day.

Kesh though responded well to going behind and had Town unsettled as they forced mistakes and turned over the ball high up the pitch.

And there was no great surprise when they went on to level matters in the 17th minute. Campbell was fouled by Town centre half James McKenna and Cashel clipped the resultant free kick to the back of the net for 1-1.

Indeed, Cashel was close to doubling his and Kesh’s tally but just couldn’t get his toe to the ball from another set piece while at the other end Darren Freeman fizzed the ball to the back post but Wallace couldn’t get enough on his effort.

On the stroke of half time Kesh had a great chance to take the lead but Town goalkeeper Gary Doherty made a fine save to deny Ryan Beatty as it remained 1-1 at the interval.

The increasingly influential Freeman started to cause Kesh all sorts of problems on the restart and it was his run that brought about Town’s second as he evaded a number of challenges before being uprooted by Cashel in the box.

Referee Cathal McCrory pointed to the spot and flashed a second yellow at the Kesh man and Beacom stepped up to convert from the spot to make it 2-1.

The ten men again found a response to conceding and Campbell this time fired home from a free kick to leave it 2-2 with 50 minutes on the clock.

It then took a wonderful save from Doherty to stop Campbell putting the visitors ahead and from this Town broke straight down the pitch for Freeman to pull the ball back for Lilley to tuck to the corner.

Still, Kesh remained a threat but with the game in added on time Town were able to put the contest out of the away side’s reach as Wallace closed down a clearance by Kesh goalkeeper TJ McMulkin and he showed composure to pick out Beacom who completed his hat-trick as Town secured the points.

Next up for Town is a meeting with Strathroy on Saturday and manager Judge is keen for them to keep building on recent results.

“We have started to find a bit of form which we knew would come once we got players back who we had been missing. It is about taking it one game at a time and Strathroy are always a tough game but we want to try and put a run together between now and Christmas and then take it from there,” he said.

For Kesh there is an away game against Beragh and Campbell will be looking for a response from his side.

“It will be another tough battle but the last time we lost I asked for a response and we bounced back with two wins in a row so I will be looking something similar this time too,” he added.