Your stacked sport section is here again

THIS weeks paper brings you all the results and updates across the Borough to keep you up to date on the going ons in your local clubs.

And as always, starting from the back, it's been a miserable festive season for the Bannsiders and fans alike, Ruaidhri Higgins' squad have lost three of their last five League outings, giving themselves a mountain to climb to keep the title race close, the latest defeat was at the hands of Larne FC at Inver Park after a 3-0 defeat. Higgins acknowledged that results should have been better, saying: “The reality is that over this Christmas period we haven't been good enough, we really haven't, and we've suffered because of that. There's huge potential at this club but we've only had three draws this year. I think there's a lot of games where, if we had shown a wee bit more steel, we could have done better."

Glenullin go in search of All Ireland title at Croke Park, Michael O’Kane took over the Glenullin reins from his cousin Paddy Bradley who had taken the Mitchell’s to back to back Intermediate titles in 2022 and 2023. In Ulster they were unfortunate to meet very strong opposition. There were a few Glenullin players thought to have their best days behind them but O’Kane kept faith in them and the results have been top notch. Now his players are living the dream of playing in Croke Park when they take on An Gaeltacht from the Irish speaking area of Kerry on the Dingle Peninsula.

Football

Coleraine have made a quick start to the transfer market, following the arrivals of Mark Connolly and James Akintunde, the club announced the arrival of former Portadown midfielder Ben Wylie soon after the window opened. The midfielder has become the latest addition to the squad after an undisclosed fee was agreed with Portadown. Wylie arrives after also previously being on the books at Celtic, Airdrie (loan), Ballymena United (loan), Swedish side Ytterhogdals and Cliftonville.

It was announced yesterday (Monday 5), much to the delight of fans, that Coleraine were delighted to announce the permanent signing of Will Patching from Carlisle United. The midfielder has put pen-to-paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal after an agreement was reached with the Blues.

Limavady United suffered a set back in their clash against Annagh on New Years Eve, a 3-1 defeat against League Title rivals allowed Annagh to draw level at the top with 48 points. If Limavady had proved succesfull on the day, the gap would have been firmly extended. Adding to the woes of the Roesiders, their Saturday clash against Ards was cancelled following a pitch inspection - a win on Saturday would have allowed them to 'get straight back on the horse' and keep pushing forward for promotion.

On a more positive note for local football, Portstewart FC put on a strong performance against Ballymacash Rangers at Mullaghacall, defeating the visitors 4-2, with three goals coming from debutant David McDaid, the former Glenavon man has came to Portstewart as a assistant coach and registered player, and certainly made his mark in his first match. 

Portstewart boss John Gregg was pleased with his side’s performance and attitude, telling the Coleraine Chronicle that “A really good shift was put in and I was delighted for the lads because they’ve trained really hard over the last few weeks.  This was our first opportunity to carry that into a game. The way we set up, the work ethic and, even on a bad day, the willingness to win would have been there.”

Rugby

Coleraine Rugby Club Second XV endured a challenging afternoon on Saturday as they were defeated 27–0 by Limavady Rugby Club at Rugby Avenue. With the squad currently stretched by a growing injury list, Coleraine struggled to gain momentum against a well-organised Limavady side who made the most of their opportunities.

Golf

The McCann Cup was fought for at Rathmore Golf Club late in December and it was won by Division Two’s Paul Elliott with a score of 35 points from his mark of ten. After dropping a shot at the long third Paul birdied the short sixth to be through the outward six holes in level par. His bogey five at the 14th saw Paul sign up for a one over par back seven and a round of one over par worth 35 points for the win. 

Between Christmas and New Year Castlerock Golf Club hosted two Front Nine Mixed Stableford competitions on the Mussenden Course. On the Saturday, Victor McMullan came out on top by scoring 25 points from his handicap of eight.
He dropped three shots to par but nabbed a birdie four on the third and a three on the par four sixth for his one over par card that was worth 25 points.