Richhill take the honours against neighbours Laurelvale

Richhill AFC secured the victory in this Intermediate A derby encounter in pleasant autumn conditions at Richardson Park on Saturday afternoon.

Richhill started strongly and took a deserved lead on 14 minutes when great work from winger James McMullen found Adam Wright at the back post and he made no mistake from finding the net with a close range tap in. 1-0 soon became 2-0 as ‘Vale failed to deal with a corner and Craig Archer proved to be in the right place at the right time as he blasted the ball into the net from close range.

Richhill thought that they had made it 3-0 on 30 minutes when some great play from the village side saw McMullen beat Vale ‘keeper Tyler Blair with a low strike only for the referee to rule the goal out for offside despite Richhill protests.

Vale raised their performance in the closing stages of the first half but Richhill remained in control and entered the interval with their 2-0 lead.

The second half produced plenty of drama at both ends of the pitch. Richhill had opportunities to increase their lead but some good goalkeeping from Blair kept Laurelvale in the game. This proved crucial as the visitors had the opportunity to reduce the scoreline on 72 minutes when they were awarded a penalty but Stringer’s strike from 12 yards went wide of the post.

Vale were then awarded another penalty in added time in an incident that saw Richhill ‘keeper McCance dismissed. However, Richhill’s long serving midfielder James Nesbitt donned the goalkeeping gloves and made a fantastic save from Stringer’s penalty as Richhill ran out 2-0 winners at the final whistle.

Matty Whittle impressed for Richhill and therefore collected the man of the match award (kindly sponsored by The Mortgage Shop, Portadown & Banbridge) while the Club would also like to thank The Padel Era for providing match sponsorship.

Richhill have another home fixture this weekend as they host Valley Rangers on Saturday.

Kick off at Richardson Park is a 2.25pm.

Richhill AFC: Ryan McCance, Alex Lee, Jack McKee, Dylan Doogan-Ballantine, Scott

Somerville, Matty Whittle, Ben Rice, Liam Rice, Adam Wright, James McMullen, Craig

Archer. Subs: Adam Megaw, James Nesbitt & Leon Wells.

Coagh United Reserves 3

Richhill AFC Reserves 2

An injury time goal for hosts Coagh United denied Richhill AFC Reserves a share of the points in this Reserve Championship game in County Tyrone on Saturday afternoon.

Coagh had been in impressive form lately and led 2-0 but second half goals from substitutes Matty Wilson and Jordan Roper looked to have given Richhill a point but the hosts scored late to secure the win.

Richhill AFC Reserves are back in action again this Saturday when they travel to play Rathfriland Rangers.