Enniskillen Rangers 2 Killen Rangers 2

Dean Sproule struck deep in added on time to see Killen Rangers secure a point from their meeting with Enniskillen Rangers at the Ball Range on Saturday.

Jason Keenan’s 82nd minute effort had looked as if it would seal the three points for Michael Kerr’s charges but with Rangers appealing for a foul on Eoin McManus, Sproule popped up with a late controversial equaliser to give the visitors a share of the spoils.

And while disappointed to concede late on, Kerr felt that it was a fair outcome on the balance of play.

“When you concede that late it feels like a defeat but I think that a draw was a fair result. I didn’t think that either side did enough to win or lose the game.

“We are still top of the league after it and that is where we want to be,” said Kerr.

The ‘Gers boss though did hit out at the performance of referee Neil Quigley.

“The major talking point from the game was the referee. I felt he was poor and that was not just for us, it was for both sides, so it’s not sour grapes,” he added.

The first big call came early on when Quigley opted to show ‘Gers goalkeeper Joe Peden just a yellow card after he raced out of his box and committed a foul to prevent what appeared to be a goal-scoring opportunity.

The two teams went into the game occupying the top two spots in the table and it was the away side who were to go on and take the lead in the 24th minute as Andrew Stevenson headed home at the back post from Jamie Sproule’s cross from the right.

However, the home side were back on level terms with 40 minutes on the clock as Joel Byrne was upended in the box after skipping past a couple of challenges. Mark Cutler stepped up and fired the resultant spot kick low to the Killen goalkeeper Adam Buchanan’s right to leave it 1-1 at the break.

The visitors though felt they should have had a penalty of their own when the ball seemed to strike ‘Gers defender Ronan Beattie on the arm but the referee was unmoved as it remained 1-1 at the break.

Both goalkeepers were called into action early in the second half with Buchanan saving from a close-range Jordan McClure header while Peden then got a hand to an effort that looked set for the top corner.

Rangers though took the lead inside the final ten minutes when Jordan Palmer headed down a free kick at the back post and Keenan was on hand to lash to the roof of the net. Keenan thought he had made it 3-1 soon after but this was ruled out for offside and right at the end Killen swooped for the equaliser.

A free kick from the halfway line was clipped into the box and with Rangers appealing for a foul by Darren Long on Eoin McManus, Sproule was alert to slot home as it finished 2-2.