Lisnaskea Rovers 3 Orchard Farm 4

Orchard Farm’s Division Two survival is in their own hands with one game remaining, as they moved ahead of Lisnaskea Rovers courtesy of a dramatic 4-3 win on Saturday.

A victory over already relegated Fivemiletown on the final day will keep them in the division, while Rovers must defeat Enniskillen Galaxy and hope other results go their way.

In a match packed with incident including seven goals and a red card, the away side emerged victorious despite playing most of the second half with ten players following the dismissal of Andy Elliott.

“It was a much needed win,” admitted Orchard Farm manager Stewart Armstrong.

“I think the luck was with us in a lot of respects and I’ve no problem admitting that because it has been against us all year. We know we are down there for a reason and it’s not just all bad luck, but on Saturday it was the first time we could sit back and say we were a wee bit lucky.

“I was extremely proud of the boy’s efforts. When we went down to ten we heard Lisnarick were 3-1 up and we knew a draw wasn’t good enough. Lisnaskea got back to 4-3 and threw everything at us at that point, but a mixture of fantastic defending from Robbie Smith and Francie Maguire and probably some poor finishing, prevented them from equalising.

“We knew we had to hold on, and the lads gave it absolutely everything. On another day ‘Skea could have got something out of the game, but we are more than happy with the points, and it leads us into another cup final against Fivemiletown in the last game of the season.”

Rovers’ Rhys McQuigg admitted they gave themselves too much to do in the second half after a slow start saw them trail 3-1 at half time.

“We didn’t deserve anything for our first half performance,” he said. “We didn’t get going and had too many loose passes and overhit balls, and Orchard Farm could have scored a couple more.

“In the second half it changed, and we were the better side. We pressed them well and had chance after chance, but we just could not put the ball in the net. All we can do now is do our job and hope Fivemiletown can do us a favour.”

Orchard Farm’s bright start was rewarded after just seven minutes when Scott Armstrong’s free kick came back off the goalkeeper into the path of Ryan Ingram who blasted into the top corner.

The lead lasted five minutes before Rovers equalised through Aidan Kane.

Midway through the half Orchard Farm edged back in front when Seamus Quigley ran onto Ryan Dunlop’s pass and blasted past the keeper from a tight angle, and they increased their advantage further before the break when Armstrong’s free kick evaded everyone in the penalty area and drifted inside the far post.

Early in the second half Rovers clawed their way back into contention when Andy Elliott received a second yellow card for a foul on Brian McDermott inside the penalty area, and Adam McDonald dispatched the penalty kick.

Lisnaskea surged forward in search of an equaliser and struck the crossbar, but they were caught by an Orchard Farm breakaway when Smith’s clearance was flicked on by Dunlop and Willie Thompson delivered the pressure relieving goal.

Rovers continued to press forward and reduced the deficit again through another penalty from McDonald, but they could not grab an equaliser as Orchard Farm moved into pole position in the race for survival.