Derby victory moves Reserves up a notch

Banbridge AFC Reserves 0

BANBRIDGE Rangers moved into second place in Reserve Division Three on Saturday past with a confident derby win over local rivals Banbridge AFC.

The game got underway with Rangers seeing most off the ball and creating some half chances with Thompson and Wilson both going close from the edge of the area.

It was no surprise to see the opening goal of the game come from as Robert Baird who is in great form at present and raced onto a Thompson knock down to volley past the AFC keeper.

With 15 minutes left in the first half Rangers went close again when a Matthew Gribben corner was met by captain Colin Harper who watched as the keeper tipped his effort onto the post.

With Rangers firmly in control of the game it was no surprise when they grabbed their second off the game when Baird nicked the ball off the AFC centre back and set up the inform John Thompson to grab his 11th goal off the season to send Rangers into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Rangers were not playing as well as they have been playing in recent weeks but they were still making clear chances and when Gray burst into the AFC box his shot only saw the keeper tip his fine effort onto the post and out for a corner kick.

From the resulting corner it was 3-0 to Rangers as player manager Dan Thornton rose highest to head home from 10 yards.

With the game now all but over Rangers were now thinking off their big top off the table clash against Tullygally next week as they brought off Rodgers, Gribben and Wilson who played well all day and introduced Dillon, Gibson and Dobbin into the game.

It didn’t take long for one of the subs to make his mark on the game as Thompson’s through ball was chipped home by Bryan Dobbin with his first touch off the ball to make it 4-0 to Banbridge Rangers and finish off the game.

Next week’s match against Tullygally will be the biggest game in the Reserves season as a win will bring Rangers back to within four points of the current pace setters in the league.

Best on the day for Banbridge Rangers was Neville Cochrane who pulled all the strings in the heart of the Rangers midfield.