Strabane miss out on promotion

Premier Intermediate League

Play-off second leg

Strabane Athletic....1

Oxford Sunnyside....2

(Oxford won 3-2 on aggregate)

STRABANE Athletic missed out on a place in the third tier of the Northern Ireland Football League by the narrowest of margins after losing the second leg of the Premier Intermediate League (PIL) play-off to Oxford Sunnyside.

Raymond Foy's men had home advantage at Melvin Arena after drawing 1-1 in the first leg at Knockramer Park just days previous.

It was the biggest game in the club's history and a bumper crowd of supporters poured into Melvin Arena on Friday night for the winner-takes-all game.

The visitors ultimately prevailed to claim the promotion spot in the PIL.

The first leg on the previousTuesday was an evenly contested game with no goals scored during the first half.

Strabane went in front after Aaron O’Hagan scored on the 48th minute.

With time beginning to run down, Jordan Bell scored the equaliser setting the game nicely in the balance for the second game.

Oxford started Friday's second leg with an early goal as Padraig Judge scored on the 12th minute. Strabane tried hard to get back into the game but fell further behind when Daniel Smith scored a second goal on the 28th minute.

At the half-time interval the score read 2-0 to the Mid Ulster side. An own goal by Peter McCann in the 90th minute gave Athletic a late glimmer of hope but they could not find the elusive equaliser.

Despite the bitter dissappointment, Atheltic - who were crowned the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League champions having defeated Ballymoney United in the league decider last month - have the chance to lift another piece of silverware.

They will take on Maiden City in the O'Gorman Cup final this Friday evening in the final game of the season.

The tie for the cup, which dates back to 1896, will be played at Allen Park in Antrim (Chimney Corner Ground) with kick-off at 7.30pm.