Published: Thursday, 4th March, 2010 2:24pm

Ten man Town finish strongly

Strathroy Harps 1; Enniskillen Town 4;

Ten man Enniskillen Town overcame the sending off of midfielder Brendan Rogers to finish up comfortable winners against Strathroy Harps on Saturday.

Town had held the sway in the first half with a Kieran Leonard goal having given them the advantage at the break.

However, Strathroy pulled a goal back at the start of the second half through Gareth McCrory, and when Rogers was then dismissed the game looked to be going the way of the home side.

Town though quickly regained the initiative through Christopher Corrigan and with Gary Beckett and Frank Wallace bagging further goals, Rory Judge's side eased their way to the points.

"I thought we played really well and hopefully we will be able to continue this. We have the cup this week and as always this is a priority for us but we are not giving up on the league just yet although I would admit that it is a long shot," said Judge.

Judge also felt that the sending off was the wrong decision.

"It was harsh and it looked worse than it really was. It was a full blooded challenge which both of them went into and I thought that it should only have been a yellow card," he added.

Town had the better of things in the first half with Corrigan rattling an effort off the post before they took the lead through Leonard. A move down the left saw Gary Beckett chip the ball into Mark Connolly who laid it off for Leonard to fire in off the underside of the crossbar.

The visitors also had a couple of penalty shouts that were waved away during the first half while Town goalkeeper Joe McGovern only had one routine save to make over the course of the half.

Strathroy though were back on level terms early in the second half as McCrory nipped in to tuck the ball home at the near post for 1-1.

This was quickly followed by referee David Hamilton flashing a red card at Rogers for a robust tackle on Gerard McCaskie and at this stage the impetus lay with the home outfit.

However, the reigning champions responded well to the adversity they faced and they went on to completely dominate proceedings to the finish. Corrigan, who had an effective game in the middle of the park, put Town back in front as he smashed home from the edge of the box after being teed up by substitute Niall Oates who chested a Connolly ball into his path.

Beckett then made it 3-1 when he swept the ball home after Wallace had beaten the full back and fired the ball across goal, and Connolly set up number four with a wonderful chip over the defender for Wallace to volley to the back of the net.

The win puts Town into third spot in the league, five points adrift of Lisbellaw having played a game more, and although the 'Law remain firm favourites to claim the Mercer Cup, Judge will be hopeful that his side can continue to press them in case the leaders do happen to slip up.