Foyle Wanderers 1 Enniskillen Rangers 2 (aet)

Holders Enniskillen Rangers hopes of a third Junior Cup in a row remain in tact as they saw off Foyle Wanderers on Saturday.

Rangers have had to show plenty of character and grit at times in this year’s competition, coming from two goals down late on against Beann Mhadaghain in the previous round before winning on penalties.

And they again had to come from behind on Saturday with top scorer Jason Keenan grabbing an equaliser with ten minutes left of normal time before Conor Watson converted a penalty in extra time to seal the win.

“Over the game as a whole I would have been very disappointed if we didn’t win it,” said ‘Gers boss Michael Kerr.

“It was a bobbly pitch which made things difficult but I was always confident that we would score and when we equalised I felt we would go on to win it.

“Look, it is about progressing and getting into the next round and we’re delighted to be back in the quarter-finals.”

Next up for Rangers in the Junior Cup is a meeting with Ahoghill Thistle and Kerr is expecting a tough test.

“We have Ahoghill away and they are a good side who have been in the semi-final this last two years. It will be a tricky tie but it is one that we will be looking forward to,” he said.

There was few real clear cut chances in the first half against Foyle Wanderers although it was Rangers who enjoyed the better of the exchanges over the opening 45 minutes.

Mark Cutler and Christopher Currie posed problems for the home side from the wide areas and the Foyle goalkeeper made a good save to deny Cutler while Ciaran Smith had a volley that was blocked.

The home side offered little threat at the other end of the pitch with Jerome Carleton not having a save of note to make in the first half.

However, ten minutes into the second half Wanderers took the lead with a header from a free kick to again put Rangers title defence to the test.

As they have over the last couple of seasons though the Enniskillen side had the answer.

With ten minutes to go Keenan twisted and turned before whipping a superb shot into the far corner to make it 1-1.

Neither side were able to find a winner over the remainder of normal time but the visitors were to take the lead in extra time as Watson slotted home from the spot.

Keenan was upended in the box and Watson made no mistake with the penalty to put the away side into a 2-1 lead.

Indeed, Rangers looked the likelier to add to their tally but Keenan was denied by the keeper.

In the end though the holders had done enough as their long running love affair with the Junior Cup continues.

There is more cup action for Rangers this week with the start of the Mulhern Cup and it is a competition that Kerr would love to do well in.

“We got to the semi-final in my first year as manager but other than that we haven’t really done well in the Mulhern and I would love a run in it. However,we have Killen on Saturday and that is going to be a tough tie and one that we can look no further ahead than,” he commented.