Second half Freeman goals give Enniskillen Town derby bragging rights

Enniskillen Town 3 Enniskillen Athletic 1

Enniskillen Athletic's hopes of maintaining their status in the Mercer League were hampered as two Darren Freeman second-half goals broke their resistance under April sunshine last Saturday.

It leaves Athletic two points away from safety behind Irvinestown Wanderers with just two games to play.

Town boss, Rory Judge, felt his side lacked the proper motivation for the game as they had nothing to play for bar local bragging rights: "iIthink it was a poor game all round. I hate seeing a game when there is nothing to play for and hate seeing us go through the motions.

"I think our play was quite ragged to be honest and I think we probably approahced it with the mindset we wanted to win it for local bragging rights over anything.

"There was no mental pressure on us. Getting a point, getting no points, getting three points didn't have any material affect on the rest of the season so it was hard to motivate us from that point of view."

The relation-threatened side had been frustrating Town for 70 minutes before the referee awarded a controversial-looking penalty after a tangle in the Athletic box and Freeman drilled the penalty past James Maguire.

The first half saw Town dominate possession but with Athletic sitting deep they found it hard to break them down.

Lee Brennan and Freeman were dangerous in possession but most attacks were dealt with by Athletic who then tried to catch Town on the counterattack.

Town were content to play the ball across the back but they were caught out on 25 minutes as goalkeeper Ben Thompson's attempted pass was blocked by Luke Flanagan who had the simplest of finishes.

It was a lead that did not last too long as just seven minutes later, Thomas Owens was left unmarked to head home Duwayne McManus' free kick as the sides went in level at the break.

The second half saw Town create several chances through Freeman and Brennan who tested Maguire in the Athletic goal.

While Flanagan had the ball in the net but the referee had called the play back for a foul.

With 20 minutes to play a cross into the Athletic box was not dealt with and while it looked like there was nothing in the coming together of players going for the ball, the referee judged a foul was committed on Freeman who dusted himself off to make it 2-1.

10 minutes later the same player wrapped up the points for Town as he went on a strong run and cut from right to left across the Athletic box before leaving Maguire with no chance as it ended 3-1.

Looking back on the game, Athletic boss, Darren Rodgers, was full of praise for his side: "We played really well on Saturday.

"We created a good few chances in the first half and looked dangerous on the break.

Town had their fair share of the ball, without really testing our keeper," said Rodgers who questioned the penalty decision before commenting on the remaining fixtures for his side: "We have two cup finals against Enniskillen Rangers and Kesh and need at least one win to have any chance of staying up."