Whitehead Eagles 0 Irvinestown Wanderers 6 

Two goals in the first eleven minutes set Irvinestown on their way to the second round of the Junior Cup as they thrashed Whitehead Eagles 6-0.

Stephen Sheridan and Danny Hughes each scored a brace, with goals from Craig Humes and Jamie McFarlane helping secure Wanderers passage to the next round. 

Having been on the receiving end of a six goal defeat to Enniskillen Town the previous week, Wanderers manager Darren Higginbotham was impressed with how his players bounced back from that disappointment. 

“I was delighted with how the lads approached the game and delighted to get into the next round,” he said.  

“After last week’s game, I asked questions of them during the week, and in fairness to them, they were professional in their approach.  

"In the first third of the game, Whitehead were expending a lot of energy trying to get the ball back, but when we got our second goal it kind of killed it as a tie.  

"They came out with high energy and pressing all around the pitch trying to force errors, and in reality, it was probably to their detriment.

"Because they committed so much to try and press our back four they left themselves exposed at the back and we had a number of chances.” 

  “At halftime, I wasn’t that happy with how we were playing. I thought we were a bit slow and lethargic.

"Given the grass was a bit long and it was a hot day we maybe weren’t moving the ball as quickly as we could, but we dealt with that at half time and in the second half we upped the intensity of our play and ended up getting two goals very quickly at the start of the second half.  

"We created a lot of chances and realistically maybe should have scored more, but still six goals is a good return. It was a positive day and gives us something to build on. Now we need to keep pushing on, with a big game against Beragh on Saturday week.” 

Irvinestown were quickly out of the blocks and in the opening minutes Caolan Ward had two early opportunities, and only a last-ditch tackle denied Stephen Sheridan.

Six minutes into the contest Irvinestown took the lead when Christopher McMulkin’s cross was fumbled by goalkeeper Stewart Rodgers and Sheridan was on hand to tap the ball into the net.

Five minutes later Jamie McFarlane doubled the lead when he converted Ward’s low cross.  

Irvinestown continued to create chances and two minutes into the second half they added a third when Sheridan’s flick set Humes clear and he found the bottom corner of the net.

Three minutes later Danny Hughes made it four when he scored from Jamie McFarlane’s pass, and Hughes found the net again on the hour mark with a drive from 25 yards.  

Sheridan completed the victory when he controlled a long pass on his chest and cut inside the defender before shooting low into the corner of the net.