NFC Kesh 1 Killen Rangers 0 NFC Kesh moved out of the bottom two for the first time this season as Jamie Middlemas’ 20th minute effort gave them the points from their game against Killen Rangers at Michael Connolly Park on Saturday.

Kesh have been in the relegation zone throughout the season but Saturday’s three points moved them from bottom to tenth place above both Strule United and Enniskillen Santos.

And the North Fermanagh club could take a huge step towards safety this week with a crunch game against Santos coming up while they also face Strule in their last four games as Niall Amos’ side look to avoid the drop to Division Two.

Indeed, victory over Santos would relegate the Enniskillen side who lost 4-1 in Tuesday night’s derby encounter against Enniskillen Town.

With only two games left for Santos, defeat to Kesh would leave them unable to catch Amos’ side and leave them dropping down to Division Two and the Kesh boss knows the importance of that upcoming clash.

“We’ve four games left to play and we know we are going to need a lot of points from them but we know that it is in our own hands.

“We have a huge game this Saturday against Santos and a win in that would be a big boost for us and it would also mean that Santos would not be able to finish above us,” he said.

Kesh produced a determined display on Saturday to see off a Killen side who threw everything they had at them in the second half and it was a performance that delighted Amos.

“It was a real team performance and it was a massive win for us.

“Killen will probably feel that they should have won the game but although they had more possession than us I thought we had as many chances as they did,” he added.

Kesh started the game in a lively fashion with Niall McMenamin pulling a shot wide of the post from eight yards although they were lucky not to fall behind when the visitors hit the base of the post through a Graham Young effort.

It was Kesh though who were to take the lead after 20 minutes with what proved to be the only goal of the contest.

Aaron Graham’s through ball caused a mix up at the back by Killen and Middlemas nipped in to prod the ball towards goal and it trickled over the line to put the home side into the lead.

Killen pushed hard for an equaliser over the remainder of the half but Kesh were resolute at the back as they held on to their advantage to the interval.

The second half again saw Killen pick up where they left off at the end of the first as they enjoyed the bulk of the possession and Trevor Irwin and Adam Buchanan both had attempts on goal but Kesh once more stood firm at the back and they did have chances of their own at the other end through Middlemas and Grant Ellis.

However, in the latter stages it was backs to the wall stuff from the home side as Killen pushed hard to try and level up proceedings with Timothy Crompton going close but Kesh were able to see out the game to pick up a crucial three points in their fight for survival.