Sluggish U17s are beaten by Lurgan Town

Lurgan Town U17s 2

LAST Saturday’s win over Annagh United at the Tech had Banbridge Rangers U17s in buoyant mood heading into the match against Lurgan Town on Saturday.

But after getting out early to warm up Rangers had to wait over 20 minutes for Lurgan Town to appear on the pitch before kick off could commence.

A free kick from Lurgan Town was blocked by keeper Ryan Burns after 15 minutes with Lurgan reacting quicker inside the six yard area to poke home a rebound to take the lead.

Five minutes later the lead could have been reduced when Stephen Copes rattled the Lurgan post after some good build up play by McCullough and McCracken from the left hand side.

Lurgan took the initiative to Rangers with some neat football and good passing movements and extended their lead ten minutes before the interval.

Not for the first time this season Banbridge Rangers kicked into life from the outset of the second half and scored within a few minutes after Lee McCullough threaded a delightful ball to Copes who struck his initial shot against the keeper before being presented with an open net to fire home his third goal of the season for the Rangers U17s.

Nathan Sally was replaced in the midfield by Timmy Topping taking up position on the left hand side allowing McCracken to assist Jason Adamson in the centre against a five man Lurgan midfield.

The match had several half chances with Nathan Copes getting in behind the last man after another magnificent ball from Lee McCullough whose link up play this season has been second to none.

Midway through the half the influential Kyle Sergeant had to be replaced by David Baird after a late challenge on his ankle before Jordan McCracken had to be carried off with Rangers having to play on with ten men for the remaining 10 minutes.

Last week's man of the match, Matthew McCrum, decided to carry on playing when involved in a clash that resulted in several nasty gashes to the face as Rangers had to dig deep to keep the score down whilst trying to create half chances but unfortunately the game finished early with the score ending up at 2-1 to the visiting side.

Banbridge Rangers will now face Windmill Stars of Newry this Saturday at Lurgan Public Park in an altered league fixture with kick off at 10.30am.