Enniskillen Rangers 2 Beragh Swifts 0

Enniskillen Rangers recorded back to back wins over Killen Rangers and Beragh Swifts at the Ball Range last Thursday and Saturday to keep them in the hunt for the Mercer League title.
And the big games keep coming for the Junior Cup finalists with a trip to Omagh this Saturday to face a Strathroy Harps side who are also hoping to chase down NFC Kesh at the top of the table.
The battle for the Mercer Cup is a three way tussle between the sides with Kesh currently clear at the top but the two chasing teams having games in hand.
And Rangers boss Michael Kerr knows the importance of this Saturday’s meeting against the reigning champions. The ‘Gers sit 13 points behind leaders Kesh but have seven games in hand while they are seven points behind Strathroy having played four games less. At this stage both Rangers and Strathroy still have matters in their own hands and while defeat for either side would not end their title aspirations, it would put a big dent in those hopes.
“There is no hiding from it, it is a massive game for both sides and if we could go on and get the win from it then we would be in a good position,” said the Rangers player-manager, who states that he won’t be looking any further ahead than the Harps game.
“We have taken it one game at a time all season and that’s what we will continue to do and see where it will take us. We will focus on this Saturday’s game this week at training and then we will worry about the next game. We still have nine league games to play so there is a lot of football left for us but as I’ve said we know it is an important game, there will be a good buzz at training this week and it is one that we will be looking forward to,” he added.
Having only played one league game in 2018, Rangers have watched Kesh pull away at the top but they finally were able to make headway last week with wins over Killen Rangers and Beragh Swifts.
Kerr’s side were slow to get going at the Ball Range last Thursday as they went in at the break leading 2-1 against Killen with David Crozier netting after an own goal. And they pushed on in the second half and goals from Kerr, a Richard Johnston screamer and two goals from Christopher Keenan saw them run out 6-1 winners in the end.
Rangers were back on home turf again on Saturday as they picked up the points on offer from their meeting with Beragh.
The home side started the game well and with 20 minutes on the clock they swooped to take the lead.
Jamie Robinson was put racing through on the left and he lifted the ball over the advancing goalkeeper to register his first goal for the first team and give Rangers the lead.
And Rangers were able to double their advantage before the interval with top scorer Jason Keenan claiming the goal.
Keenan’s goal bound header from a Christopher Currie corner deflected off a defender to the back of the net to put Rangers into a two goal half time advantage.
The second half saw few chances at either end with Rangers goalkeeper Nathan Noble enjoying a quiet afternoon.
Keenan did have a chance to net a third for the home side but he was denied by the visiting goalkeeper as it finished 2-0 to Rangers as they maintained their push at the top end of the table.