NFC Kesh 5 Tummery Athletic 1.

Kesh got their first league points of the season with a convincing 5-1 victory over Tummery. Two goals from new signing Jack Kerr Reid along with strikes from Nathan Cashel, Ryan Morris and Mark McAuley gave the score line a very convincing feel and gave new manager Nicky Noble his fist league victory. The new boss admitted he was delighted with the performance of his team.

“I was very happy,” admitted Noble. “From the first whistle they wanted it badly, and after the disappointment of the Rangers game everybody on the whole team really upped it. We needed to get the three points and we dominated the game. They had a couple of half chances, but I felt we were totally dominant from start to finish. It is only three points and we need to keep doing that every week. That win breeds success and gives everyone a wee lift because when you lift up the paper you are not at the bottom of the league. Now we have to keep plugging away.”

After a tight opening to the match it was Kesh that made the breakthrough on 30 minutes. Mark Noble robbed a Tummery defender of possession as he was trying to shield the ball out of play. He advanced on goal before sliding a pass to Nathan Cashel who beat his man and fired a low shot into the bottom corner.

Jack Kerr Reid signed for the club in the summer after spells at Ballinamallard and Lisbellaw, and he was quickly on the score sheet for his latest club. Josh Toal did well to create space out wide and whipped in a cross from the byline. The ball fell to Kerr Reid, and he looped a header over the keeper to extend Kesh’s lead. The striker was again on target five minutes later. Nathan Cashel accelerated past a defender and pulled back a cross for him to add his second from six yards.

Ryan Morris, another capture from Ballinamallard, volleyed in a fourth from the edge of the area following a corner, and Mark McAuley completed Kesh’s scoring when he netted following a one two with Nathan Cashel.

Noble has been delighted with how the new signings have integrated quickly into the club, and although he will be losing the likes of Kerr-Reid and Morris to university in the coming weeks, he believes he has the squad to cope with the loss. “I have three or four boys still to come back,” he said. “That is the good thing about having a big squad, because you are never going to have the same players every week. I had two 17 year olds playing on Saturday and they played like seasoned pros. Josh Toal and Alex Holder ran themselves into the ground. It’s a young team. Mark Jones was the oldest player out there and the next oldest was 25 so it bodes well.”