Fermanagh Premiers 2 Skouted FC 3

Fermanagh Premiers saw victory snatched from their grasp as 10-man Skouted FC scored twice in injury time to claim a 3-2 victory on day three of the SuperCupNI.

The Fermanagh side had put in a much improved performance and looked destined for their first win of the tournament when goals from Callum St. Ledger and Oisin Keenan gave given them a 2-1 advantage, but the Manchester based team hit back in added time to break Fermanagh hearts.

Fermanagh went into the match without striker Aaron Ellis after he picked up a dead leg in the previous day's match, but they made light of his absence in the early stages as they went on the front foot from kick off.

St. Ledger was leading the line and he did well to control TJ McNulty’s free kick inside the penalty area, but he was adjudged to have fouled the defender as he got his shot away.

Tadgh Kernahan was making his first start in goal, and he saved a free kick and Skouted then had a goal disallowed for offside before Fermanagh took the lead after 18 minutes.

St. Ledger picked up possession on the halfway line and lofted a ball behind the Skouted defence for Fionn Stroud to chase.

The defender got to the ball first but his back pass made it awkward for his keeper and St. Ledger nipped in to pick up possession before the keeper dragged him to the ground inside the penalty area.

St. Ledger, captain for the day, stepped up to the spot kick and dispatched the ball into the bottom corner of the net to give the Premiers their first goal of the tournament.

Fermanagh continued to press forward with Matthew Armstrong and John Ritchie controlling the centre of midfield.

Rhys McGourty dragged a shot wide of the post after 24 minutes, and seven minutes later came even closer to extending the Fermanagh lead.

Stroud was proving effective down the left and his cross to the front post was intercepted by Ethan Byrne ahead of the keeper.

He hooked the ball to McGourty at the back post, but his goal bound shot was deflected over the bar by a defender on the goal line.

One minute before halftime Skouted drew level when Ryan Gjini evaded several tackles in midfield before driving a low shot from 20 yards into the bottom corner.

Skouted came out for the second half buoyed by their equaliser, and they had three efforts at the Fermanagh goal in the first 10 minutes of the half.

As the half progressed Fermanagh came back into the match and John Ritchie had a close range shot deflected over the bar.

From the resulting corner Armstrong fired goalwards, but the Skouted keeper touched his effort onto the post and they scrambled it clear. Fermanagh quickly recovered the ball in midfield and as Stroud tried to lift the ball back towards the penalty area he was the victim of a high studs-up tackle from Skouted’s holding midfielder that saw him receive a straight red card.

From the free kick Oisin Keenan stepped up and blasted a free kick into the far corner to give the Ernemen the lead with five minutes remaining.

Skouted needed a victory to maintain their hopes of topping the group, and they threw everything forward in the closing stages.

As the game approached the end of normal time Kernaghan dived at full stretch to turn away a low shot that looked destined for the bottom corner, but the Skouted striker followed up to blast the rebound in and level the scores.

Fermanagh won a corner kick in the third minute of added time as they looked for a winner, but Skouoted cleared and broke quickly upfield with Daniel Dixon latching onto a cross and blasting high into the roof of the net from 15 yards to leave the Fermanagh players devastated at the final whistle.

Despite the heartbreaking nature of the defeat, Fermanagh can take plenty of positives from a much improved performance that yielded their first two goals of the competition.