Turleys combine to settle derby encounter

A second half goal from James Turley was enough for Enniskillen Rangers to claim a derby victory over Enniskillen Town and lift them above their local rivals into fourth place in the division one table.
“It was great to get the win, and the fact it was a derby win makes it that little bit sweeter again,” said Rangers manager Michael Kerr. 
“There weren’t many chances in the game over 90 minutes. Both teams cancelled each other out to an extent and both defences were on top for the majority of the game, but I thought James Turley was the difference between the two teams, especially in the second half. I did think we deserved it overall. We were comfortable at the back and our keeper didn’t have too much to do at all. Of the clear cut chances we maybe had the better ones and on the day James’ strike was the difference between the teams. There wasn’t much in it but I was delighted to get the three points.”
Despite not playing a league match for over two months the Rangers manager was delighted with the sharpness and fitness of his players. 
“I was delighted with how they played and with their fitness levels,” he said. “They have shown great dedication of the last 10 weeks when there have been no games. They have been out in good numbers and put the effort in in training and it paid off on Saturday. Having not played for so long I was expecting the fitness levels to drop in the last ten minutes. The boys were tired because they put in a serious shift right through to the final whistle.”
Town had conceded ten goals in their last three games, but on this occasion it was a lack of attacking threat they proved costly. 
“Normally we are very critical of our defence and we are coughing up goals but the three lads that played defence on Saturday were excellent and did everything asked of them,” said manager Rory Judge. “Then you are hoping our forwards would get the job done which they normally would, but they fired a blank. We just can’t get it all together. It was hugely disappointing and we didn’t deserve it. We at least deserved a point to be honest. Not taking anything from Rangers, but we weren’t as good as we could have been. It was a game of very few stand out chances but I thought we did enough to maybe even take all three points. I thought it was a harsh score line on us, but that is the way things are going for us at the moment.”
For Judge the a pivotal moment of the match came after just fifteen minutes when the visiting side claimed Rangers full back Matt Chambers should have been dismissed. “For the second week in a row we should have been playing with a numerical advantage. We should have been playing against ten men for about 70 minutes, but it didn’t happen,” said Judge. “He was yellow carded after five minutes and then after about 15 minutes he made an even worse tackle and it went completely unpunished. We felt that it could have been a red on its own never mind a second yellow but we didn’t even get a free kick. I think the ref realised if he gave a free kick he would have had to give a card, so we were very disappointed at that.”
In the first half, Rangers had chances Jonny Turley failing to get a touch on a cross when free while Willie Burleigh's near post header was punched out for a corner by Damian Wardman.  
Burleigh then almost capitalised on a fumble from the keeper, but Darren McQuade got across to brilliantly clear the ball off the line and moments later Jonny Turley’s first touch was heavy as the ball was again played into the box. 
Town had their spells of pressure and Gary Lynch twice had opportunities but he failed to make the proper connection with his weaker right foot from six yards, and then could not beat the keeper when breaking in on the right hand side. 
It was more of the same in the second half, Rangers’ keeper Adam McDonald saved from a Frank Wallace free kick and then acrobatically diverted a dangerous cross away from the waiting Lynch. 
Jarno Glass broke through down the left for Rangers but could not get his shot away while Burleigh shot wide from the edge of the box. 
After 65 minutes Rangers scored the game’s only goal. Johnny Turley supplied a pass to James Turley who turned superbly and unleashed a shot from twenty yards that went into the net off the underside of the crossbar.
Town’s best chance to grab a share of the points fell to Mark Little but he pulled his shot wide of the post with a great opportunity that summed up the Town’s day. 
The win for Rangers takes them to fourth place in the table, and manager Michael Kerr is hopeful they can continue to improve. 
“We will get ourselves as high as we can,” he said. “I’m not expecting to win the league but we will just take each game as it comes and target three points and come the end of the season and see how we finish up. We are happy so far. 
"At the start of the season we said to the lads let’s try to get into the top half of the table because in the last few years we have not been doing as well as we could and drawing too many games, but a wee bit of fitness has helped us. We have drawn with Tummery and beaten Strathroy and the Town now so we are going well. Strathroy away this Saturday and it’s another massive game so we will train well and target another three points.”