Rangers 'Cash in with five star win

Ballymacash Rangers 1

BANBRIDGE Rangers signaled their intentions on the Mid Ulster Intermediate B league with a convincing 5-1 win over Ballymacash Rangers on Saturday.

The win elevates Rangers to the top of the league after the opening round of matches with the side determined to hold that position when they travel to Lurgan Town tonight (Tuesday).

Ballymacash were the bottom side in Intermediate A last season but recent history has shown relegated sides to perform well, however Banbridge Rangers have strengthened their squad in pre season and were well prepared for the curtain raiser.

After a tentative opening few minutes the home side started to hold possession and carved out the opening chances of the match with Jason Gourley hitting the post and Chris Loney having a shot cleared off the line after only 10 minutes had gone.

In a dominant first half an hour Banbridge Rangers continued to press Ballymacash and created a further three clear cut opportunities to score with Colin Cousins and James Beck having chances coming inside from each flank.

Ballymacash had ridden their luck at times during the opening period but were very combative in midfield and were always dangerous on the counter attack. The away side gained some momentum in the closing stages of the half with Woods firing in a low shot past Blevins with less than a minute remaining until the interval.

Geordie McCallister's team were 1-0 down at half time but had shown more than enough ability in the first half to go on and take all three points.

The half time team talk had Banbridge Rangers fired up and started confidently with Chambers floating an inch perfect ball over the top of the left back for Cousins to retrieve at the byline. Cousins pulled back to the six yard line where midfield dynamo Scott Ward was arriving a pace to connect on the half volley which was parried by the keeper but Ward made no mistake with the second opportunity leveling the scores only a minute into the half.

Banbridge Rangers pressed the ball as a unit and when in possession created another two chances before Cousins came in off the right hand side to sweep home his first goal of the season to put Rangers in the driving seat with 50 minutes on the clock.

The two new additions from Scarva Rangers had excellent games with Darren Clarke missing nothing as part of a back three alongside Chrissy Chambers and Jonny Porter. Up front Gareth Fulton made his mark with a second half brace to cap off an impressive competitive debut appearance for Banbridge Rangers.

Both of Fulton's goals came midway through the half and were executed in style on the six yard area first with well drilled shot and then a perfectly guided header to give Banbridge Rangers a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the last twenty minutes of the game.

Richie McMinn replaced Dean Mallon in the centre of the park before John McCahon came on for James Beck wide on the right hand side to give the traveling side even more to contend with.

Last season’s top scorer Jason Gourley added striking the bar to his earlier effort that hit the woodwork before adding his name to the score sheet. Gourley's work rate and pace and link up play with Fulton had the visitors run ragged all day.

Andy McCandless's driving run left the ball between the Gourley and the keeper with Gourley's pace beating the keeper to give himself the easiest of tap ins to make it five for Banbridge Rangers.

This was a great start to the league campaign with a significantly improved second half performance which should bode well going into Tuesdays league tie away to Lurgan Town before Saturday’s Marshall Cup tie away to Lurgan Celtic.