LURGAN’S KING IS THE CASSELLS

Kristian’s cracker starts ball rolling

LURGAN Town Juniors and Windmill Stars were two of the four teams locked on nine points at the top of League 1 in the under-13 section, but they stepped up their challenge with a 3-1 win over Windmill on Saturday.

East Coast Strikers stayed level with Lurgan at the top following a 4-1 win over Banbridge Rangers but Doyle YC slipped up, going down 5-2 to Camlough Rovers.

Lurgan took a two-goal lead with Kristian Cassells picking up a clearance at a corner to hammer home from 30 yards out.

Jamie Stringer added a second before half-time when he broke down the right before firing the ball into the top corner of the net.

The Town lead was deserved at the interval, having played the better football in the first-half but Stars came more into the game after the break.

But it was not until five minutes from the end that Windmill were rewarded when Keegan Grant scored with a strong shot from the edge of the box.

However, Lurgan were not finished and with two minutes left Adhamh Towe broke from the halfway line and outpaced everyone to slot home their third goal. A delighted Lurgan manager Greg Cassells said it was probably a “game of two halves’’ but he was very pleased with the performance against one of the top teams.

“I thought we played good football throughout and defended well in the second half. The win makes it four out of four and we are happy with the way the boys are playing,’’ added Cassells.

Windmill boss Liam Murphy was disappointed with the overall team performance, but he thought Lurgan did not allow them to get their passing game going.

Murphy added: “We have been getting the ball down on the ground and playing good football, but on this occasion we did not really perform for some reason.’’