McFrederick seals title with late strike

Editorial Department • Published 26 Aug 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Lynne McFrederick holds aloft the cup after the Fermanagh Mallards beat Loughgall to win the Championship title at Fisher Park last week.

Fermanagh Mallards 1; Loughgall 0

Fermanagh Mallards will take on Linfield, Glentoran and Crusaders next season after beating Loughgall to take the Championship title and secure promotion to the top flight.

A late Louise McFredrick goal was enough to snatch victory in a nervous title decider, and the Mallards now have the chance to make it a special double winning season when they face the same opponents in the League Cup final in little over a week’s time.

“At the start of the year our aim was for the league title and then whatever happened in the cup was a bonus, so we’ve already achieved the target we set,” said manager Gareth McGuckin. “The Premiership is definitely a better standard than what we were playing in, but the girls deserve to be there.”

Going into the final match of the league season the Mallards were tied with Loughgall at the head of the table, and the ‘winner takes all’ encounter was not short on drama. In the first half it was the Fermanagh side that came closest to breaking the deadlock. Just minutes into the game Louise Noble struck the crossbar from long range, and later in the half Nicki Hynes suffered the same fate. Her cross from the left looped over the goalkeeper and struck the far post, with her teammates unable to find the net in the ensuing goal mouth scramble.

Loughgall came into the game more in the second period, but with both sides failing to take their chances it looked as though the match would end in stalemate. That was until the 87th minute, when Louise McFredrick became the match day hero.

The team are under no illusions about the size of the task that faces them when they kick off the new season in the Premiership next Easter. Manager Gareth McGuckin acknowledges that if they can avoid relegation in a league packed with sides with far more resources than the Mallards, then they can count their campaign as a success.

The immediate focus however is the League Cup final against rivals Loughgall. Having won the cup last year the Mallards are hoping they can defend the trophy against the side that almost piped them to the league title, but McGuckin is hopeful their good record against Loughgall will give them a psychological edge. “Loughgall will be eager to get one cup out of us but we are confident,” he said. “We are the only team that has beaten them in the league this year, and we haven’t conceded a goal against them yet. I have never seen the girls so excited, especially so soon after their first ever league win, and I know there is no question they will be up for it.”

The Championship cup final takes place in Dungannon on September 6.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 Aug 10

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