Newtownbutler 1-16 Brookeborough 0-02


Newtownbutler got back to winning ways with a one-sided victory at home to Brookeborough last weekend.

It was a first league win despite going unbeaten in 2A of the Club Players’ Competition before a derby defeat to Lisnaskea in the first-place play-off game.

“We were sort men, we still haven’t had a full deck yet with injuries and so on,” said Newtownbutler manager Frank Mulligan.

“The boys played rightly there. It’s a first win in a while. It's overdue at this stage but still good to get it.”

Donal Boyle’s side were unable to build on their draw with Maguiresbridge last week after snatching a late goal and were also down a handful of key players from that night.

“We were down five to six starters from last game. It's a big miss for us especially in the forwards. The squad was stretched.

"We tried to be competitive and hung in until halftime. Being more defensive meant we couldn't get the scores although we did miss a lot in the first half.

"They ran away with it after the goal which came with 10 or 15 minutes to go.”

The away side took the lead on Sunday with Conor Howell splitting the posts early doors.

However, their opponents eventually got up to speed and hit seven unanswered points for the remainder of the half.

Kealan Fitzpatrick led their scoring as he eventually finished with 0-07.

Three points at the start of the second half effectively ended the game as a contest with the away side struggling to make headway up the pitch.

Diarmuid King, Adam McDonald and Sean Conlon all tagged on scores for the hosts with the latter then finding the only goal of the game as he fisted a high ball into the square past the Brookeborough goalkeeper to stretch the gap further midway into the half.

Brookeborough will try to turn their fortunes around at home to St Pat’s on Friday while Newtownbutler make the trip to Coa.

“It’s always a challenge going to Coa and hopefully we can pick up another win and get some momentum going,” added Mulligan.