Pike boys in charge to cup final

Bangor Rangers 1

NEWINGTON Rangers just need two points from their three remaining matches to secure their place in the Supplementary Cup final, where they will meet 1c champions Ardglass and maybe provide an ideal send off for manager Stuart Pike before he heads off to Championship 2 as Billy Clarke’s number two at Moyola Park.

What a difference a week makes: Newington were down in the dumps after losing to 18th Newtownabbey at Cloyne Crescent, but a 4-0 midweek success at home to Bangor Swifts set them up nicely for the trip to Clandeboye Park to meet the then Section B leaders, Bangor Rangers.

Newington lost 6-1 in their last visit, in the league, back in October and as manager Pike said: “This was something of a revenge mission, after losing so heavily down there the last time. But if you look at our record from Christmas, since we got most of our players back it’s up with the best in the Amateur League.

“Maybe before the game I would have taken a point, given that we get them at our place next Saturday, but in the end 3-1 flattered them. We missed so many chances – everything we seemed to hit was hit at the keeper.”

Newington opened the scoring after only 10 minutes when Chris Johnston, Christopher Shimmon and Darren Moran linked up well to engineer an opening for Paul McCann, on the overlap, to hammer the ball low and hard into the bottom corner of the net.

Only a fine save from the Bangor custodian prevented Moran from adding to Newington’s tally. Just before the break the home keeper injured himself in a collision with a team mate, but managed to soldier on and still proved a formidable barrier.

Bangor restored parity just before half-time, with a neat far-post finish.

After Shimmon (twice) and Moran had both gone close, Newington deservedly regained the initiative on 65 minutes, with Shimmon climbing above a defender to power home Paul Thompson’s measured cross for his 20th goal since opening his Rangers account in mid-November.

Moran and his replacement Phil Thompson were both denied by the keeper before Phil Thompson raced through in injury time to make the scoreline look that bit more realistic.

Newington can cement their place in the final with a victory in Thursday night’s trip to Clarence Cup semi-finalists Groomsport, before facing Bangor Rangers again next Saturday, this time at the Knowe.

Newington Rangers; McClune – Cardwell, Hammond, Bell – Paul Thompson, Johnston, Brownlee (Nelson), McCann, J Thompson – Shimmon, Moran (Phil Thompson).