Local club become first ever Northern Ireland winners of the All-Ireland President's Cup
Fermanagh side Enniskillen Rangers made history on Saturday when they became the first ever team from Northern Ireland to win the prestigious President's Cup.
The All-Ireland competition pits the Irish Junior Cup winners from Northern Ireland against the FAI Junior Cup champions from the Republic of Ireland. It was first played in 2018, when Rangers lost the final, and had been won each year by the team from south of the border.
That all changed at Ferney Park in Ballinamallard on Saturday when Fermanagh and Western side Enniskillen Rangers were 2-0 winners over Cockhill Celtic from Co Donegal. Jake Browne and Joel Byrne scored a goal in either half for the Fermanagh men who had twice been beaten in President's Cup finals.
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Rangers had beaten Cleary Celtic in the Junior Cup final back in May while Cockhill Celtic won the FAI Junior Cup on penalties against Wexford's Gorey Rangers. Rangers had actually been kicked out of the Junior Cup after an eligibility row in the semi-final but were reinstated and have gone on to ultimate honours now.
That comes on top of League and Kennedy Cup honours for Rangers, who won three Irish Junior Cups in a row from 2017-19, and was a 'special feeling' for manager Michael Kerr who has been at the helm for all of their success in the last decade.
"It was a special feeling at the full-time whistle, it was a big incentive to be the first to do it," said Enniskillen man Kerr, whose father Dessie was also ultra successful with Rangers in his own playing days.
"We'd been there twice before and left thinking, 'that was some side there', but now this team of ours will go down in history forever. It was a brilliant, brilliant feeling and it is a proud moment to say you are an All-Ireland junior cup champion.
"Many people have made sacrifices for this within the club. I could see familiar faces around for so long and everyone was over the moon," he told the Fermanagh Herald.
Just for the record, the Enniskillen Rangers team to achieve All-Ireland glory lined out as follows: Ben Arthurs; Mark White, Justin Palmer, Jake Browne, Jamie Robinson, Jason Keenan, Stuart Rainey, Nathan Khan, Joel Byrne, Kyle Deery, Jordan McClure. Subs C Brough, S Carson, M Cutler. Unused: P Coulter, N Coulter, W Armstrong, H Funston.
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