Strathroy Harps 3
Enniskillen Rangers 2
Enniskillen Rangers suffered a narrow league defeat to Strathroy Harps in Omagh on Friday night ahead of this week’s Mulhern Cup semi-finals involving both sides.
Corey Wood fired a double to turn it around for the hosts who trailed early after Jason Cluff struck in the third minute.
Tommy Murphy then put Harps 3-1 up after the hour and although Joel Byrne halved the deficit from the penalty spot, the visitors couldn’t recover.
Despite the loss Rangers remain third, as their focus turns to Thursday’s crunch last four clash with local rivals and league leaders Enniskillen Town.
“Apart from the result, I was happy with the overall performance. We should have taken something from it, but it is what it is,” said Rangers’ boss Michael Kerr.
“But we are looking forward to the game on Thursday night now, it’s nice to be going in as underdogs with no pressure on us.
“Town are flying, pushing to win the league and favourites for the Mulhern, so all the pressure is on them to win.
“We can go into it with the freedom to enjoy it. Hopefully we can perform to our best and see where it takes us.”
“On a separate note, I would like to pass on our well wishes from everyone at Enniskillen Rangers to young Enniskillen Town player, Pauric Kettyles, who took sick on holiday. We hope he can make a full recovery and is in our thoughts.”
Should Kerr’s side win on Thursday, they will meet Strathroy again in the final after the Omagh-side can overcame Killen Rangers in the other semi last night (Wednesday).
They will go into that contest buoyed after their victory on Friday that saw them recover from Cluff’s early goal to win from behind.
19-year-old Wood again impressed for the home side, scoring for the fourth successive league game, and he provided the equaliser after half an hour.
With Strathroy’s pace creating openings, Wood’s second on 56 minutes put them ahead before Murphy quickly followed suit, slotting in the third.
Both sides made full use of their bench with three brothers, Oisin, Tiernan and Conan Campbell all sharing the pitch for the first time for Harps.
And it was Rangers’ own youngster off the bench, Byrne, fresh off a hat-trick the previous Saturday, who dispatched a penalty kick with 20 minutes left.
However, Strathroy claimed the three points.
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