Fermanagh & Western Division One
Enniskillen Rangers 5 Magheraveely 0
ENNISKILLEN Rangers put on a five star display after half-time to blow away the challenge of Magheraveely at a blustery Ball Range on Saturday.
Joel Byrne opened the scoring with barely 10 seconds played but from there to half-time, the game was fairly nip and tuck with the visitors giving as good as they got.
That all changed after the break, however, as Darren Higginbotham’s side pulled away to extend their record of never having lost to Magheraveely.
Just seconds after the kick-off, a long ball out from the back from Conor Rippey skidded off the wet surface and into the path of Byrne racing in from the right flank and he finished low under Connor Smith for the dream start from the home side.
The rest of the half was a scrappy affair though Rangers did have the ball in the net via Byrne again following a Jamie Robinson cross but referee Barry Devenney ruled it out for an offside offence.
The second goal came in the 53rd minute as a free-kick was taken short to Rippey who whipped a ball into the box.
It broke loose for Stuart Rainey but his shot took a big deflection to help it past Smith and find the side of the net.
The game was effectively killed off in the 73rd minute after another free-kick, this time on the edge of the box.
Jamie Edwards took a low shot towards the corner that Smith pushed out into the path of Mark Cutler on the rebound.
With Magheraveely heads dropping, Cutler scored again soon after on the counter attack. Ethan Abercrombie raced down the left and squared it over for the in-rushing Cutler who drilled the ball into the corner.
The fifth goal came with a huge stroke of luck as Kyle Deery cut the ball back near the sideline for Abercrombie and his first-time cross dropped into the net in the far top corner.
“It was a wild day for football, but we were very good in the second half,” reflected Higginbotham. “
We ended the game with four teenagers on the field, including Zach Bothwell who is only 16, so that is an indication of what we are trying to do this season.”
Magheraveely official Rodney McVitty said: “Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for us. We conceded after 10 or 15 seconds, conceded deflected goals, a cross ended up in the net.
“But Rangers were excellent in the second half so we can have no complaints about the result really. We didn’t come out for the second half.”