Rangers have fun at the seaside

Rathfriland 2

RATHFRILAND Rangers travelled the short journey to Newcastle on Saturday past.

After the 90 minutes came away with the three points in a game which in truth was close by the scoreline but the visitors never really looked in trouble of losing and seemed always in a higher gear.

The game started with Rathfriland pushing well and went close through Chris Towel's pressure on the ball and Paul Walsh also had two shots closed down but it was in the 15th minute that Rathfriland took the lead. A cross from Walsh on the left was headed just over the line by Ally Wilson but there were claims that it had not crossed the line, although the officials pointed for a restart signaling the allowance of the goal.

At the other end Wilton had to be on his toes on a couple of occasions to thwart the danger of high balls but Rangers could again have extended their lead when Towell fired one just wide of the post while Stephen Green had a powerful header cleared off the line.

Almost against the run of play Newcastle equalised when they looped a header in to the net by the number nine from inside the six yard box to make it 1-1. Beck also had a shot blocked before the break while Paul Gibbon's industry also enabled his side to go close but the half time score remained 1-1. In the early stages of the second half Rathfriland were using the flanks well but were unable to break down Newcastle however it was from a much more direct route that they went into a 2-1 lead - a great ball from left back Johnny Black allowed Towell to run on to it and thump a great strike high in to the roof of the net.

The Newcastle number six and number 10 were instrumental in all that was good about them but they always seemed to be lacking this bit of quality throughout the team. Before the final whistle Kevin Henry had a good header and Paul Rice had a half chance but in the end it finished 2-1 to the visitors.

Overall a great three points for Rathfriland - they always seemed to have a higher gear than Newcastle and will be looking to continue their recent run away to Suffolk in the Clarence Cup next week. TEAM: David Wilton, Philip Davidson, Johnny Black, Simon McWilliams, Stephen Green, Willie Herron, Ally Beck, Paul Gibbons, Ally Wilson, Chris Towell, Paul Walsh.

Subs: Kevin Henry, Paul Rice, Andrew Bell, Ian Weir.