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STRABANE Athletic will play Oxford Sunnyside in a two-legged play-off for a place in next season’s Premier Intermediate League (PIL) after being crowned Ballymena and Provincial League champions at Antrim’s Allen Park on Friday evening.
Raymond Foy’s team defeated Ballymoney United 3-1 in the league decider courtesy of goals by Aaron O’Hagan, Simon McGlynn and Declan Sharkey.
This was Strabane’s inaugural season in the Ballymena and Provincial League following the demise of the north west based Northern Ireland Intermediate League last season.
Following Friday evening’s celebrations, Strabane now face an Oxford Sunnyside outfit, who were crowned Mid Ulster Intermediate League champions, twice in the space of just four days.
The first leg of the back-to-back play-off takes place this evening (Tuesday) at Lurgan’s Knockrammer Park with the return leg at the Melvin Arena on Friday evening. Both legs kick off at 7pm.
No further away than last Friday evening the Lurgan side captured the Marshall Cup when they defeated Fivemiletown United 2-1 in the showpiece final at Annagh United’s BMG Arena.