Strathroy Harps 2-1 Lisbellaw United 

Strathroy Harps extended their lead over Lisbellaw United in the Mercer League with a 2-1 win in Omagh on Saturday.

Harps were five points ahead of United going into the weekend and goals from Aaron Behan and Matthew Ballard stretched their advantage to eight points as they reside in fifth spot.

Harps boss Benny Boyle was pleased to get back to winning ways after losing to Killen Rangers last time out.

“Delighted to get the win, to be honest,” he said.

“After beating Tummery, we had a wee dip in form with defeats against Ardstraw and Killen, so, it was time to get back to basics and you want to be winning your home games.

"On the match, I thought we played really, really well, fought for every ball and, to be truthful, should have won very comfortably.

"We missed a lot of chances now in the grand scheme of things, but happy to get the result and push forward now until Christmas.”

Meanwhile, Lisbellaw player/manager Kyle McCleery conceded it was a poor performance from his side: “I can have no complaints about the scoreline, Strathroy were the better team and had more chances than us.

"It was a really, really poor fay at the office from our point of view and definitely a day to forget.”

Strathroy’s Caolan McCrossan had the first big chance of Saturday’s game as the ball fell to him at the back post but his low shot was stopped by Josh Brownlee in the Lisbellaw net.

A wayward pass saw Harps striker Behan pick up the ball and attempt to round Brownlee, on 15 minutes, but the keeper got down low to claw the ball out of his possession.

Strathroy were applying heavy pressure and got their reward when Peter Armstrong was caught in possession and the Harps left-back was taken down by Jack Foster with a penalty awarded.

Behan slotted the ball into the bottom right corner for 1-0. Straight from kick-off, Craig Johnston drilled a low ball across the box and Harps goalkeeper John McClenaghan tipped the ball away from the awaiting Paul McGrath and Scott Moutray.

Lisbellaw did equalise just past the half-hour when Armstrong’s cross, from wide, evaded all in the box but Craig Johnston followed in and sent a left-footed strike back across goal into the net for 1-1.

Strathroy continued to put their opponents on the back foot, with Brownlee being called into action but there was another chance for the visiting side before the break as Nathan Graham’s cross was caught by the wind forcing goalkeeper McClenaghan to tip the ball onto the bar before the ball was scrambled clear.

Harps had the lead again five minutes into the restart. A ball into Behan was held up by the forward before he teed it off to the oncoming Ballard who side-footed the ball into the bottom corner for 2-1.

Chances were scarce for Lisbellaw and as they pushed bodies forward, gaps started to appear in defence leaving opportunities for the hosts to finish off the tie but Brownless made a big stop while another shot from close range went wide.

A melee after McClenghan dropped Craig Johnston’s cross ended with Jamie Coalter having a pop shot that arrowed wide and that was the closest Lisbellaw came to levelling.