Lisnaskea Rovers 4 Enniskillen Athletic 5 Enniskillen Athletic booked their place in the semi-final of the Mulhern Cup following a thrilling win over Lisnaskea Rovers at the Castle Park Centre on Saturday.

The Division Three outfit looked to be cruising through to the last four as they raced into a 4-0 lead early in the second half but Rovers responded with four goals of their own to level up matters with 15 minutes to go.

However, Athletic regrouped and Ryan Finch held his nerve to slot home from the penalty spot with three minutes to go to edge the Enniskillen side back in front. There was to be further drama in added on time as Barry Flanagan looked to have grabbed an equaliser for the home side but Bryan Owens cleared off the line as Athletic held on to take their place in the semi-finals.

“For a relatively new club, it is a great achievement to get through to the semi-finals of the cup,” said Athletic stand in manager Anthony Fitzpatrick. “It was a crazy game, we were in control at 4-0 and then they had all the momentum when they got it back to 4-4. But the boys dug in and they managed to come up with the winner.”

It was Division Two promotion hopefuls Lisnaskea though who started the game the brighter and they had two early chances to grab the lead. Brian McDermott was denied by a recovering tackle from Owens while Andy Little then fired wide.

It was the visitors though who were to take the lead after 14 minutes when Dermot Lewsley slotted home from close range.

With their tails up, Athletic pushed on and Paul Ward doubled their advantage midway through the half as he cut in from the left and his deflected shot nestled in the back of the net.

Indeed, Athletic enjoyed another slice of good fortune four minutes later as they bagged their third of the game. A long clearance by goalkeeper Ryan McNulty sailed through to hit the crossbar and came back off Rovers goalkeeper Mattie McGrade and into the net.

And it could have been even better for a youthful Athletic side as John Joe Strain had a chance to add a fourth but his effort was saved by McGrade as it remained 3-0 at the interval.

However, a fourth was to arrive for a rampant visitors early in the second half. Substitute Ryan Widdecombe skipped past two tackles before finding Ryan Finch who tucked the ball home to make it 4-0 and at this stage it looked like game over.

Rovers though had other ideas and having switched to a back three they battled their way back into contention in the tie.

Barry Flanagan headed home to make it 4-1 and when Jason Flanagan’s long range effort found the back of the net the belief began to rise in the Rovers ranks as they sensed a comeback.

Another Barry Flanagan goal brought it back to 4-3 although Athletic felt they had a strong shout for a penalty soon after when Ruairi Leonard was sent tumbling in the box.

With 15 minutes to go though Rovers managed to level the contest as Shane O’Neill sent a looping header over McNulty and with the wind in their sails Lisnaskea looked the more likely side to grab a winner in an absorbing encounter.

Athletic though were not finished and they managed to lift themselves to again take the lead as Finch stepped up to calmly slot home from the spot after Ward was upended. And with Owens producing a last gasp goalline clearance to deny Flanagan, Athletic held on for a memorable victory.

Next up for Athletic is a semi-final clash against the winners of the Strathroy v Enniskillen Town encounter.

“That will be our cup final and everything from here on in will be a bonus,” said Fitzpatrick.

For Rovers the focus switches back to sealing promotion. “It was disappointing to lose but our main goal has always been promotion and we’ll be looking to get the win that we need to seal that,” said manager Darren Graham.