NFC Kesh 3 Lisbellaw United 0.

NFC Kesh rounded off their year with a 3-0 victory over Lisbellaw United thanks to goals from Clint Thompson, Ollie Russell and Mark McCauley, but the game was marred by a serious injury to Josh Toal. 
The Kesh player suffered a broken leg just before half time and will now face a lengthy spell on the side lines.
“He had a double break of his leg,” revealed Kesh manager Nicky Noble.
 “He has had the operation and everything went alright and he should make a full recovery, but it will be a while. We will support him in whatever way we can. He is a big loss to me. He has been playing well this season and he is the only player that has played 90 minutes of every game for me this year. 
“I would rather have lost that game and the next ten games as well and have that lad walk off the pitch. 
“He will be a big miss but we will regroup and try to keep winning games for him.”
Kesh were already 2-0 ahead before the incident which cast a shadow over the remainder of the game.
 Mark Jones had a couple of half chances in the early stages of the match before Kesh took the lead. A corner was only half cleared and Lee Walker hooked the ball back into the danger zone where Clint Thompson fired the ball into the net. 
On the half hour mark they moved further ahead when Alex Holder broke clear and found Mark McCauley. He pulled the ball back to Ollie Russell who fired into the top corner. 
A second half goal from McCauley completed the scoring but the injury just before half time was the main talking point. Kyle McCleery was dismissed for the clash but both managers agreed there was no malice from the Lisbellaw player.
 “I don’t think it was anything malicious,” reckoned Noble.
 “It was a late tackle. The two of them were chasing for the ball and Josh just got there first. They were both sliding in and Kyle had the foot up and he hit him on the bottom of the leg. Kyle is a hard player but he is not a dirty player and I’m sure he was annoyed about it.”
The Kesh boss did not think the sending off made any difference to the outcome of the match. 
“Even if they had 11 men they wouldn’t have stuck with us and to be honest we should have put four or five past them,” he continued. 
“I thought we were well worth the win. I thought the boys were brilliant. They controlled the game and kept the ball and let them chase it. It was a very good win. We completely dominated them from start to finish. 
In the second half after the injury the game died a little bit, but we had enough in the tank. 
“We were knocking the ball about and keeping it. We were really up for it and we blew them away.”
Lisbellaw manager Andy Reilly had no complaints about the result, but felt McCleery was unfortunate to see red. “We were well beat by a far hungrier side,” he admitted. 
“Obviously our main thoughts are with the young lad who got injured and we wish him a speedy recovery. 
“It’s never nice to see anyone get a serious injury but hopefully he’ll make a full recovery. It was a late tackle but I felt it warranted a yellow card at best.”
The win maintain’s Kesh’s push at the top of the division one table, and  it  represents a remarkable turnaround from the side that only escaped relegation by a single point last season.
 “Things are going well at the minute and it has been a great first half of the season,” said Noble. 
“I don’t think anyone expected us to be where we are and it’s all down to the players. They have worked hard and trained hard and done everything I have asked of them and more. 
“They have put their bodies on the line and we will keep on and see what the New Year brings.”