Rangers miss out out on promotion

Banbridge Rangers 1

ON Tuesday night past Banbridge Rangers failed to take all three points against AFC Craigavon, eliminating their chances of taking one of the two promotion slots available in Intermediate B.

The game at Lakeview Park in Craigavon was well supported by the away side with Banbridge Rangers needing all three points whilst their counterparts could afford to drop points and still keep their promotion aspirations alive.

After a nervy opening few minutes it was Banbridge Rangers who settled quicker moving the ball across the midfield at pace. Dan Thornton kept his place in the front line alongside Jason Gourley with both players anxious to latch onto any through ball from McMinn, Ward and Loney operating in the middle of the park.

With a high tempo in the match and all to play for there were some rash challenges in the first twenty minutes with the referee choosing not to book the relevant offenders.

Banbridge Rangers two wing backs Colin Cousins and Willie Frazer were full of running and commitment as ever and looked most likely to penetrate the experienced AFC defence. On 20 minutes Frazer set off on one of his driving runs from the left hand side evading four challenges before entering the box, Frazer then cut inside the last man before finishing past the keeper with his right foot to the delight of the crowd.

The goal came in a period of sustained pressure that had AFC rattled and several minutes later Gourley curled an effort the wrong side of the post.

With Banbridge Rangers unable to extend their lead AFC Craigavon started coming back into the game their physical presence allowed them to keep more territory in the Rangers half.

With just over 10 minutes left in the half Chris Chambers was rounded by the Craigavon forward and conceded a penalty which was converted cooly past Blevins to bring the scores level.

AFC Craigavon had the wind in their sails now and used their pressure to great effect and should have had another penalty just before the interval when Loney handled inside the area but the referee failed to penalise.

After the interval Banbridge Rangers came out like the first half and had another sustained bout of pressure against the AFC backline with the majority of chances coming through a succession of corners. With AFC content to play on the counter attack it worked out in favour of the way side who had the clearest chance of the game on seventy minutes when their striker couldn't connect to a cross from two yards out after another swift break down the left hand side.

James Beck was brought on for Thornton as Banbridge Rangers knew that it was all or nothing in search of the win. The frustration at not being able to get the ball move in and around the Craigavon started to play on the young Rangers side who snatched at half chances before McCallister moved Chambers up front leaving it man for man at the back.

The remaining minutes of the match saw chances for both sides with the referee playing over four minutes stoppage with Gourley and McMinn unable to turn the ball home inside the area from difficult angles.

The game finish as a draw meaning that Markethill Swifts were guaranteed football in Intermediate A next year with AFC Craigavon now needing only a draw this Tuesday night away to Broomhedge to join them in promotion.

With Hanover taking maximum points in their remaining fixtures it looks likely that Banbridge Rangers will finish fourth in the league missing out on promotion by only two points. Now that the season has drawn to a close the Banbridge side can regroup for another push for promotion into Mid Ulsters top stream for next season.