Colin Cousins and William Frazer have been switched to full back positions where they have blossomed alongside the centre back pairing of Porter and Chambers who together as a unit looked impeccable last Saturday with the visitors restricted to attempts from distance. In harsh conditions neither team got a strong foothold in the game but Rangers with home advantage certainly looked the more likely of the two teams to score with front man Gourley always on the sniff for any half chances.
The opening goal turned out to be the only one in the game and arrived on the half hour mark when Cousins took a quick throw in too McMinn inside the Lugan half. With space and time he then picked out Gourley who laid a neat ball back into his path just inside the area and although his first attempt was blocked the ball fell nicely infront of him and he made no mistake in slotting the ball past Murtagh in the Lurgan goal.
Ward and Loney were now getting well in control of the middle of the park and with the pace of James Beck on one flank and the exquisite dribbling skills of Bradley Hughes on the other the home side now built up some momentum with further chances being created for Gourley and Ward. The visitors did lift their game before half time as they attempted to find an equalizer but Ivon Blevins made a fine save from a shot just inside the area.
Although not playing as well as normal McCallister was happy at the interval with his squad and insisted the work rate and closing down was to continue to prevent the visitors coming back into the game. Lurgan moved Peter Haughey into a more customed roll in the middle of the park as he had got new joy against Frazer and with this move they gained a more competitive edge in the second half but with the Rangers rearguard still in fine form the visitors found in hard to carve any clear cut chances.
The introduction of John McCahon to the Rangers left flank was to prove industrious as time and again he was the outlet ball and the deceptive winger almost doubled his sides lead when he cut inside two defenders and then curled a shot which just missed the bottom corner. Chris Loney and Scotty Ward were next and both saw efforts from the edge of the area just miss the target as the home side now looked to close the game out. Wayne McCallister was introduced for Beck on the right flank as legs were now beginning to tire.
With fifteen minutes remaining a loose pass from the Lurgan centre back was picked up by McMinn who slipped Gourley through and normally one on one the frontman would rattle the net but under pressure from the defender who had got back well didn’t get as clean a connection as he would have liked and the keeper made a good save. The visitors moved three upfront as they attempted to salvage something from the game but again Blevins had safe hands with any high ball and the Rangers sealed a valuable three points to leave them in a healthy league position where hopefully they can mount a challenge from in the new year.
Team Blevins Cousins Porter Chambers Frazer Beck Loney McMinn Ward Hughes Gourley Subs McCahon McCallister Monteith Baird
Banbridge Rangers ................ 1
Lurgan Town ........................ 0
