Augher are crowned Division Three champions after seven-goal thriller

Dunbreen Rovers 3
Augher Stars 4

AUGHER Stars were crowned Fermanagh and Western Division Three champions following a thrilling 4-3 victory over Dunbreen Rovers at Youth Sport Omagh.

A stunning last-gasp strike by Ashley McFarland finally killed off the Rovers challenge to seal the title.

Castlederg United’s 4-2 defeat at Ardstraw Reserves the previous night opened the door for Johnny Winser’s outfit and the Augher men grabbed their opportunity with both hands.

Winser was delighted that his team got the job done with two games to spare.

“The game was a bit stressful if I’m honest, Dunbreen Rovers put it up to us,” he said.

“The club is buzzing, everyone is over the moon. It wasn’t the easiest campaign, there were weeks when we were light on numbers and we won a number of games by a single goal.

“We’ll enjoy the celebrations and of course we are still in the Mulhern Cup but we aren’t going up just to survive.
“Next season we’ll be looking to give Division Two a real go.”

On Saturday Augher led 1-0 at the break when William Jones swept the ball home after Rovers keeper Conor Taggart found Matty McSorley’s initial effort too hot to handle.

However five minutes into the new half Rovers were level when Niall McCaffrey netted from the penalty spot following a foul on Andy Colgan.

Augher hit back through Jones who ran on to an exquisite pass from Mark Kerr but again the advantage was short-lived and Troy Murray replied following excellent play by McCaffrey and Mark Mehaffey.

For a third time, Stars took the lead when McSorley finished after McFarland had challenged Rovers stopper Taggart to a superb cross from Darragh Kavanagh however Dunbreen weren’t quite finished and McCaffrey scored a second penalty after an Eimhin Cunningham shot struck the hand of Niall Skinnader.

Augher though had the final say in sensational fashion. Sam Barrett drove forward on the left before McSorley switched the play out right to McFarland. The striker then stepped past his marker before thundering the ball across Taggart and high inside his far post to kick-off the celebrations in earnest.