Kesh 7 Castlecaulfield 0 

Ryan Campbell scored a hat-trick as Kesh coasted into the third round of the Junior Cup with a 7-0 victory over Castlecaulfield.  

The prolific striker struck twice in two minutes midway through the first half as Kesh raced into a three-goal lead by halftime, and four more goals followed in the second half with Campbell completing his treble, Alex Brownlee scoring twice and Kyle Malone and Jake Irvine also getting their names on the score sheet. 

“We were pretty comfortable,” said player/manager Campbell.  “We started well and put them on the back foot straight away, but after about ten minutes we knew it wasn’t going to be that tight a game.

"They sat in and tried to hit us on the break, but any time they went to break they gave it straight back to us. We had a lot of possession, and we knew it was only a matter of time.

"They frustrated us for 15 or 20 minutes, but once we got the first couple of goals it was one-way traffic from then on in.” 

Campbell’s opening goal arrived after 21 minutes, and it was a reward for Kesh’s early dominance.

Lee Walker burst down the right wing and slid Brownlee through. His shot deflected into the path of Campbell, who brought the ball under control with his chest and volleyed into the corner of the net from the edge of the box.  

Two minutes later Campbell added his second. The striker laid the ball off to Nathan Cashel who set Brownlee free out wide, and his cross was headed in by the player/manager.  

Kesh were in total control of the game and they added a third before halftime when Lee Walker advanced into the Castlecaulfield penalty area before laying the ball back for Brownlee to smash a low shot into the corner. 

Kesh made it four in the opening minute of the second half when Josh Flack whipped in a cross from the right. Campbell controlled the ball at the front post and set up Danny Wilson.

His initial shot was blocked but the ball fell kindly for Jake Malone who tapped in at the back post.

Campbell then completed his hat-trick when he pounced on the loose ball after Sam Robb’s shot had been saved.  

Jack Kerr crossed for Brownlee to head in Kesh’s sixth, and they made it seven in the final minute when Kerr again crossed and Jake Irvine applied the finish.