Enniskillen Rangers are through to the semi-final of the Irish Junior Cup after edging past Lisbellaw 2-1 in the all-Fermanagh quarter-final clash.

Eoin McManus had given Rangers a deserved first-half lead, and although a much improved Lisbellaw second-half performance saw them net an equaliser through Philip Beacom, Rangers in-form goal-getter Mark Cutler fired home the winner to seal their place in the last four.

“I thought we deserved the win,” said Rangers’ boss Michael Kerr.

“The game was scrappy enough, but when we did put some passes together we created some good openings. We were very relaxed and we prepared well.

"Conor Rippey was missing and Joel Byrne was struggling with a knock but the boys that came in played well and took their chance. They all produced the goods.

“Overall, I was delighted to get the win. We have won a few quarter-finals before, and I always find they are the worst games to play because people know the semi-final is a big occasion and you have to get over the line. I’m happy we are through and looking forward to the draw.”

Lisbellaw manager Kyle McCleery acknowledged his side were second best in the early stages, but he felt they could have snatched something with their second-half performance: “I thought we were poor in the first half, especially the first half an hour,” he conceded.

“Rangers started much better than us and had more possession and looked more threatening. We just couldn’t keep the ball and every time we got into promising positions it was breaking down on us.

"Everybody looked a bit nervy, and we were rushing things and things weren’t coming off for us. We were lucky we were only 1-0 down at half-time.

"At the start of the second half, we were a lot better, and once we got it back to 1-1 I thought we would go on and win it because our tails were up.

"For the first time in the game, I thought they looked a bit nervy and we were buzzing. We had so much momentum and the crowd was behind us, and I felt we were in a fantastic position to go on and push for the winner, but they went down the other end and scored.

"There were two big calls for offside in the build-up to their goal, and I was praying the decision was going to come. It was a close call twice, but that sucked the wind out of our sails.”

Rangers have not lost a game away from home since the opening day of the league season, and they started in confident fashion in front of a large crowd at Drumad.

Jason Keenan had a shot saved by Lisbellaw goalkeeper Josh Brownlee, but they did go ahead in the 16th minute when McManus headed in a corner at the back post.

The visitors continued to press forward in search of a second and the prolific Mark Cutler had a shot saved by Brownlee and then fired wide of the post.

As the half progressed Lisbellaw started to pose more of a threat and a Craig Johnston cross drifted over goalkeeper Joel Peden and came back off the post.

Johnston also had a long-range effort touched over the bar by Peden, and early in the second-half, he volleyed Nathan Graham’s cross over the bar.

12 minutes into the second half Lisbellaw levelled the scores when Philip Beacom pounced on a loose ball after a scramble inside the penalty area, and his low shot found the back of the net.

Rangers were quick to respond to the equaliser, however, and within five minutes they were back in front.

Nathan Khan won possession in midfield with a crunching tackle and found Jake Browne. He passed to Keenan who laid the ball out wide to Mark White, who cut inside the defender and slid a pass to Cutler, and he made no mistake from 12 yards out.

Lisbellaw had a chance to take the game to extra time in the dying seconds when Craig Johnston’s free-kick was fumbled by Peden, but Jamie Coalter’s shot was blocked by Burleigh and Peden was able to regather as Rangers held on to make the last four of the competition.