Enniskillen Town 1 Enniskillen Rangers 2.

Enniskillen Rangers edged the derby against old rivals Enniskillen Town at the Lakeland Forum with Mark Cutler netting the winner five minutes before the end. 
Indeed, Cutler was very much to the fore throughout producing a superb run to create the first goal for top scorer Jay Keenan and then missing a penalty shortly before he struck the winner. 
Rangers were deservedly ahead at the break but Town came back strongly in the opening period of the second half with Mark Little pouncing for the equaliser. 
Rangers though finished the stronger and the win fires them back to the top of the table level with NFC Kesh and they have two games in hand on the North Fermanagh club. 
‘Gers player manager Michael Kerr acknowledged that there was little between the sides on the day although he felt that if there was to be a winner then his side had shaded it.
“If anybody deserved to win it over the 90 minutes then I think it was us. There is no doubt that it was nip and tuck and neither side gave an inch which is what you would expect from a derby game. 
“I’m delighted though with the result, it is great to get the win in the derby but more important was the three points to keep our run going,” said Kerr.
And the Rangers boss was pleased with the manner his side finished the game.
“We haven’t won a lot of games with late goals since I have been in charge and we then missed a penalty with 15 minutes to go and you were thinking it wasn’t to be but we kept going and got the winner and I felt we showed great character,” he added.
Town boss Rory Judge though felt his side deserved to have got something from the game.
“I felt they settled into the game better and were the better side in the first half but in the second half we dominated for long periods although we didn’t work their goalkeeper enough.
“We would also feel aggrieved about their winning goal as we felt there was a foul in the build up but it wasn’t given while I also thought the lead up to their penalty was offside. 
“I definitely thought though we deserved something out of the game. I didn’t think there was anything between the sides at all on the day,” said Judge.
Town now trail their cross town rivals by 10 points and will need to go on a strong run if they are to challenge at the top end of the table. 
The first half was a tough encounter with no quarter asked or given as wind and rain descended on the Forum. 
Mark Cutler got in behind the Town defence early on but could not get a shot on target before Rangers thought they had taken the lead. 
A corner was cleared only as far as Ciaran Smith whose excellent 25 yard shot was tipped onto the crossbar by Pat Cadden in the Town goal. Keenan slotted home the rebound but was adjudged offside. 
At the other end, Frank Wallace fired over from distance while William Burleigh pulled the ball back from the byline but nobody could apply a final touch. 
Rangers did take the lead on 35 minutes with Cutler doing superbly down the right as he won the ball from Gary Stewart and beat Sean Hynes before crossing superbly to Keenan who slotted home from six yards. 
Town did apply some pressure in the final minutes of the half, firing in a couple of dangerous free kicks but could not fashion a direct chance. 
That changed at the start of the second half though as William Simpson nodded the ball into the path of Little who expertly slammed the ball into the corner of the net past Jerome Carleton for 1-1. 
Town were now well in the game and had a better foothold in the game. Indeed, they could have gone ahead when a long ball into the Rangers box was misjudged and substitute Thomas Owens headed goal wards but Carleton saved well. 
In the final quarter, Rangers got on top again. 
Cutler was now operating through the middle and he got in on the right side but shot across the face of goal with players waiting for the pull back. 
Then Smith put Burleigh through and the ‘Gers captain was fouled by Nicky Dunbar with the referee pointing to the spot. Dunbar who was already on a yellow escaped further punishment. 
Rangers had just substituted regular penalty taker Keenan and Cutler took up the duties but Cadden dived low to his right to save well. 
It looked as if Rangers had blown their chances to keep their winning run going but Cutler had other ideas. 
This time Kerr played him through and as he competed for the ball with the out-rushing Cadden, they both ended up on the ground but it was Cutler who got to his feet the quickest and worked the ball onto his right side to slot home into the corner of the net for 2-1. 
There was one last chance for Town, however, as they won a free kick 25 yards from goal. 
Wallace opted not to shoot and neatly played in Conor Tummon who slid the ball past Carleton but Kerr was back to clear the ball from inside the six yard box. 
The final whistle sounded soon after as Rangers narrowly maintained their 100 per cent start to the league.
The big games keep coming for Kerr’s charges this week with a meeting with an in form Tummery Athletic while Judge will be hoping that his side can get back to winning ways when they travel to Clones to face a Magheraveely side who are still awaiting their first points.