LOCAL NEWS Camlough Rovers 6. Banbridge Rangers 5. (After Extra Time and Sudden Death Penalties). THERE were frenzied celebrations in Camlough on Saturday afternoon after the resolute Rovers knocked out a powerful Banbridge Rangers side to make the Mid-Ulster Premier Cup Final. It wasnt pretty, it wasnt sweet and there wasnt a lot of football played - but the home side battled like the proverbial Trojans to make their third Premier Final in as many years. Yet it took extra time and sudden death penalties to decide the contest. In the previous two Finals Camlough lost out (to Tandragee and Dollingstown) but the resilient Rovers intend to make it third time lucky. Manager Seamus Kane told the Democrat: We had a load of brave-hearts out there today, right the whole way through our team. They stepped up to the plate and did Camlough proud. “This is our third year in the Premier Final and it would need to be third time lucky. Ive never won it as a player and its a big regret. But we are going to try our utmost to do it this time. We are going to work hard over Christmas and will do everything possible to win this cup, said Kane. Both sides cancelled each other out. On a bitterly cold December afternoon it was a feisty affair with tackles thundering in all over the show. Rangers came to the south Armagh village confident, and backed by a big following and with a strong wind in their backs in the opening half, they applied lots of pressure on the home defence. And indeed Camlough keeper Joe Goodwill had to be at his best. On eight minutes he had to make a stunning full length save to keep out a wicked Jonathan Porter drive. Still Rovers had the best of the scoring chances in the first half. On 27 minutes Robbie McDonald picked out Declan Monaghan on the left with the nippy striker in turn finding John Grant. The tall frontman was in a great position and looked a sound bet to net but a sliding Banbridge defender got in the way of his shot. Also Monaghan went close with a crisp back post header following a Gavin Moan left-wing freekick. After a dullish opening half, things picked up after the break. Camlough skipper Gavin Moan was causing the Rangers defence problems with his accurate free kicks and corner kicks. And Rovers might have gone in front on 50 minutes but Lee Lennon nodded one of these Moan corners just wide of the post. Still just three minutes later things were to improve. Another Moan left-wing corner and there was Marty Browne charging into the box and throwing himself at the ball. It was a brave, brave header with boots flying everywhere but the big central defender defied the boots and the bodies to thump a header past the helpless Banbridge keeper Chris Davidson and into the net. It was the opening Rovers craved but it was not to last long - just three minutes in fact. The Camlough defence lost concentration allowing Jonny ONeill to pop up at the back to poke home the equaliser. However, after this Rovers pushed forward at every opportunity and with a bit of luck would have grabbed the winner. The dangerous Monaghan was narrowly wide on the hour mark. But he had an even better opportunity with five minutes left. Gavin Moan split the Rangers defence with a superb pass with Monaghan running though on goal. However, the keeper defied the Rovers striker with a somewhat lucky save with his feet. With seconds left of normal left the Banbridge central defender Chris Chambers was red-carded for a late tackle on Monaghan and with 20 minutes of extra time to play the home team looked the most likely team to snap up a winner. But it wasnt to be with both teams failing to find another goal, thus the dreaded penalty shoot-out came into play. Andy Mallon scored for Banbridge with Decky Monaghan doing likewise for Camlough. Dean Mallon hit the target for Rangers but Gavin Moan missed for Camlough. The odds had swung again with Banbridge at this stage favourites to make the final. Stuart Mallon netted for Banbridge with Kieran Murphy coolly side-footing home for Camlough. Rangers Adam Beattie and Rovers Robbie McDonald each confidently did the business but if Rangers were to score with their last kick it would be curtains for Rovers. But cometh the moment, cometh the man and that man was Camlough keeper Joe Goodwill who made a brilliant leap to his left to beat out a shot from Jeff Brady. Sean Dillon gleefully fired home for Camlough to take the match into sudden death. The pressure was on and it was too much for Banbridges Kyle Sergeant who hit the bar. And the day ended in triumph and a signal for joyful celebrations when Marty Browne fired home the winning spotkick. The last word went to Camlough boss Seamus Kane who said: I always have faith in Joe. He is one of these keepers that when it comes down to penalties he does the business. Hes done it before and he will do it again. He stood up and made a great save. Fair play to him. But at the end Marty (Browne) had to step up and put it into the net and win it for us. Fair play to Marty as well. “It was a hard game, a typical Mid-Ulster derby match. Banbridge came out at us and we came back at them and it was ding-dong the whole way. Though its sad it had to go to penalties. But well take it anyway - whatever way it comes. Last season Camlough lost to Tandragee in the final and this season will meet the winners of Tandragee v St Marys (who havent played yet) in the Premier final. The Final is provisionally booked for January 30 but the date will need to be confirmed. As a footnote: Banbridge lad Kyle Sergeant, who missed the crucial sudden death penalty kick, was in tears and almost inconsolable. But the Camlough skipper Gavin Moan who had missed his own kick, felt his grief ran over to him to commiserate. True sportsmanship. Camlough Rovers: Joe Goodwill, Declan Murphy, Liam Quinn, Lee Lennon, Marty Browne, Joe McDermott, Robbie McDonald, Gavin Moan, Declan Monaghan, John Grant and Gerard Morgan with subs: Sean Dillon (for D Murphy), Kieran Murphy (for Grant) and Aaron Massey (for McDermott) Steven Loughran and Gerard Mooney not used. Banbridge Rangers: Chris Davidson, Ryan Gregg, William Frazer, Kyle Sergeant, Chris Chambers, Colin Cousins, Jeff Brady, Jonny ONeill, Jonathan Porter, David Phillip and Stuart Mallon with subs: Dean Mallon (for Porter), Andy Mallon (for Frazer) and Adam Beattie (for Cousins). Newry now #Newrynow Story in this week Newry Democrat
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 00:21:37 +0000
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