Enniskillen Rangers 0 Lisbellaw 3 

Enniskillen Rangers suffered their first league defeat of the season as they went down 3-0 at home to Lisbellaw.  

Michael Kerr’s injury hit side fell behind to a Peter Armstrong goal on the stroke of halftime, and a second half brace from Craig Johnston made it back-to-back wins for Lisbellaw as they continued their revival after a slow start to their campaign. 

Lisbellaw manager Kyle McCleery was happy to claim the points, despite his side not being at their best.  

“I felt we more than deserved the win, but to be honest our performance didn’t inspire me greatly,” he said.  

“I think we have played better this season and not picked up points, but we have now got three wins on the bounce and in the last two weeks we have got six points in the league, so it leaves the table looking a bit prettier.  

"They were massively understrength, but anytime you go in there and pick up a win you are delighted. It is a hard place to go.” 

“The key moments went for us,” he continued.

“Josh Brownlee has made two saves for us at crucial times, and we have managed to put the ball away at crucial moments as well.  I thought we dominated the first 30 minutes, but we were very wasteful in front of goal.

"We should have been further ahead at halftime, and I was a bit disappointed that we weren’t.

"The game was very much still in the balance, but we got a bit of fortune for the second goal and that took the pressure off a wee bit and I thought we were fairly comfortable for the rest of the game.” 

Rangers’ boss Michael Kerr admitted it could have been a different outcome if they had been more clinical in front of goal.

“It was a disappointing result,” he acknowledged.  

“It is a long time since we were beaten 3-0 but it was just one of those days.  We had two good chances at 0-0 and we should have scored at least one of them.

"We didn’t take our chances and gave away a silly free-kick just before halftime and didn’t defend it well and they scored from that. It was a poor result, but we will be looking for a good response this week in training and then away to Kesh on Saturday.” 

Lisbellaw looked threatening right from the outset, and with two minutes on the clock, they struck the frame of the goal with a Peter Armstrong header.  

Scott Johnston’s follow-up shot was blocked and Sam Lindsay then fired wide.  

The visiting side continued to pile the pressure on the Rangers’ defence with a succession of corners, and Craig Johnston, Sam Lindsay and Richard Woods all had efforts at goal without making the breakthrough. Paul McGrath then raced through and was denied by the goalkeeper Jamie Keys.   

Having survived a succession of chances, Rangers then carved two opportunities of their own to take the lead.

Jason Keenan’s pass set Stuart Rainey clear of the Lisbellaw defence, but his shot was saved by the feet of Brownlee, and moments later Ethan Butler failed to get any contact on Jordan McClure’s cross with the goal gaping.   

Lisbellaw finally found a way through in the final minute of the first half when Johnston’s free-kick from the left was headed in by Armstrong.  

Three minutes after the interval Lisbellaw moved further ahead when McGrath sent Craig Johnston down the left wing, and his deep cross floated over everyone and dropped into the net.  

Keenan had an opportunity to pull a goal back when he ran at Brownlee, but the keeper got a toe to the ball and forced him wide, with Keenan then blazing over the bar.

Moutray had a goal disallowed for offside, but McCleery’s men sealed the win with a third goal a minute from time when Nathan Graham’s cross was flicked on by McGrath, and Craig Johnston fired low into the bottom corner.