Derby draw leaves Mercer league table finely poised

NFC Kesh 1 Irvinestown Wanderers 1

Kesh player/manager Ryan Campbell believes his side’s hopes of a first-ever Mercer League title are still alive, despite dropping two points to Irvinestown Wanderers.

Kesh had taken the lead through Campbell’s penalty before Stephen Sheridan struck back for Wanderers to snatch a share of the points.

The draw earns Wanderers a vital point in their efforts to escape relegation, while for Kesh the result leaves them level with Tummery and two points behind Enniskillen Rangers with a game in hand on the leaders.

“We are still well in the hunt with five games to go,” said Campbell. “The extra two points would have given us a bit more breathing space, but it was always going to come down to the head to heads between ourselves, Tummery and Rangers and that is still the case. We just need to keep winning until we meet them.

"This Saturday is massive now. Magheraveely are fighting for their lives, and Tummery and Rangers have no game, so we need to make sure we win it to keep the pressure on. It’s all still to play for yet.”

Campbell scored his 29th league goal of the season from the penalty spot to give his side the lead, but he felt a crucial penalty decision later in the first half could have changed the outcome of the game.

“In the first half Irvinestown came with a game plan to sit in and come at us on the counterattack,” he said.

“We had the majority of the possession and got a penalty early and were pressing to get a second. We should have had another penalty. That was a key moment in the game. If we had gone 2-0 up Irvinestown would have had to come out a bit more and we might have created more opportunities.”

Wanderers fought back with a Sheridan equaliser extending Irvinestown recent run to just one defeat in six, as they pulled two points clear of the drop zone.

“It was a really positive performance and massive effort on a difficult day,” said manager Darren Higginbotham.

“Kesh are in good form at the moment so we knew we had to be at our very best to compete and get anything out of the game. In the first 15 minutes, Kesh played very well but we made a slight tactical change and it seemed to stifle them a bit in building out from the back, which meant we could press the ball a bit higher and have a few extra numbers up the pitch on the break, and ultimately that is where our goal came from.

"When you take everything into consideration and the amount of energy and effort the players had to exert, and the desire they showed to get the point out of the game, I can’t praise and thank them enough. It’s so pleasing to see that they are willing to go such distances to get points, and every man from one to 16 played their part in dragging us across the line. I was so happy to get a crucial point.”

Kesh had won each of their previous eight matches and they started like a team high in confidence and were rewarded with a penalty after 12 minutes when Ryan Beacom was adjudged to have brought down Danny Wilson.

Campbell dispatched the spot kick, and the player/manager then felt he should have had a second penalty.

He was advancing on the goalkeeper when he felt he was clattered into from behind by the defender, but the referee waved play on and Wanderers were soon level from a quick breakaway when Barry Goodwin drove forward to the edge of the penalty area before sliding a pass to the feet of Sheridan. The striker cut inside and drilled a low shot from 18 yards into the bottom corner of the net.

Kesh pressed forward in the second half in search of a winning goal and Jerome Carleton denied Sam Robb twice, once with his legs and once with a diving stop to touch the ball around the post.

The keeper also saved from Nathan Cashel as Irvinestown held on to take the points and leave the league table finely balanced at both the top and the bottom.