Cup loss for U12s

BANBRIDGE Town Juniors U12 Lisburn League team crashed out of the cup on Saturday going down 2-0 to a very strong Ridgeway outfit.

Despite being the underdog Banbridge certainly made Ridgeway battle all the way for the right to progress into the semi-final.

Despite a very tough match three days previous and having to travel to Ridgeways own back yard at the Billy Neil Playing Fields, Banbridge were only a whisker away from causing an upset.

Both sides know each other inside out over the past few seasons and the match was a very tense affair with few clear cut chances being created.

Banbridge had a few early set pieces which were only inches away from being converted and Kelso made one great save towards the end of the half to deny the very dangerous Ridgeway centre forward. But in general both defences were on top leaving it delicately poised at 0-0 at half time.

The second half however became more stretched and Banbridge began to tire following their nine man heroics on the Wednesday night previous. However it was a moment of genius out of the blue from the Ridgeway striker which broke the stalemate and put Ridgeway 1-0 up.

To their credit the juniors pushed for the equaliser but apart from a McCandless free kick which was well saved could not muster a clear cut opening to get back on level terms.

With 10 minutes remaining and Banbridge pushing for the equaliser Ridgeway sealed the game when a long ball down the channel evaded the Banbridge defence and the pacy Ridgeway striker finished with composure.

Banbridge can take credit for their determination and effort against a very good Ridgeway side. With a little more luck on the day Banbridge might have had a more favourable result, but it was not to be their day and with five league games remaining they can still aim for a top four finish.

Team: Gregory Kelso, Ryan Devlin, Paul Morgan, Jamie McCandless, Jamie McAtamney, Ciaran Duffin, Danny McKinstry, Neil Dillon, Gavin Fearon, Cormac Downey, David Barr, Jack Lennon, Harry Campbell

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