NFC Kesh 2 Strathroy Harps 1 

A spectacular Ryan Campbell goal 10 minutes into the second-half earned Kesh a 2-1 victory over Strathroy Harps.

Nathan Cashel had given Kesh the lead at half-time, but they were pegged back by a goal from Matthew Ballard early in the second-half before player/manager Campbell’s match-winner.

The Kesh boss acknowledged there was little to choose between the teams, but he was happy with his side’s efforts.

“We needed to start a bit better because we had started a bit dead against Lisbellaw, and that is what we got,” said Campbell.

“For the first 20 or 25 minutes I thought we were outstanding. We put them on the back foot from the first whistle and got our goal. We maybe should have one or two more before we dipped off.

“I told them at half-time not to take their foot off the gas and keep doing what we were doing at the start of the match and try not to let them back into it, but we did the opposite.

"We came out flat for the second-half and Strathroy lifted their game, and they got a well-deserved equaliser.

"After that, the game was pretty even. The second-half was a tight affair. I thought we defended well because Strathroy threw everything at us in the last 10 or 15 minutes to try to get something out of the game. But the defence stood strong and everyone worked hard all over and I had no complaints after the game.

"It was one of those halves where you had to dig deep to see out the points, and thankfully we did see it out.”

Kesh were dominant in the early stages of the contest and took the lead after 17 minutes when Campbell collected a deep cross and released Josh Flack, who drilled the ball across the area for Cashel to blast home from six yards out.

As the half progressed Harps started to look more threatening and they were rewarded four minutes into the second period when Ballard made a late run from midfield and volleyed past TJ McMulkin.

The sides were only level for five minutes before Campbell struck. The veteran striker ran onto a deep free kick, and from an angle hit the bouncing ball across the keeper into the far top corner to win the game.

The victory ensures Kesh remain unbeaten, one of only two teams not to have tasted defeat in the league this season.

“We are sitting nicely,” acknowledged Campbell.

“It helped us last year that we had a good start to the league. We wanted to do the same again and stay in the mix come Christmas, and hopefully, then we can take it on again. I think it's going to be harder again this year because the teams all seem to be strong again.

"Town are going well, Tummery have started well, Rangers, ourselves, even Strathroy have a great young team compared to what they had last year, so they have upped the ante too.

"There are no easy games in this league.”