Race-phew! Relief as Broughshane men claim title in nervy finale

The Broughshane men scooped the Michelin Athletic Club-sponsored Connon Cup for the fourth time in eight years after an evening of nail-biting drama last week.

Raceview went into their final game last week requiring victory over neighbours Carniny Amateurs to secure the title and in the end, a single goal from Stefan Calderwood was enough to clinch a 1-0 win.

“It was a real humdinger of a match, really nerve-wracking,” manager Jason Cairns told Times Sport.

“I have to give Carniny full credit - there was no question of them simply going through the motions, they really put it up to us.

“We were delighted to win and it’s a great reward for the players’ efforts this season because they’ve been superb.

“We had a massive turnover of players last summer, including players who had been with us for a few years and the fact that our squad this year was probably smaller and younger than in previous years makes winning the league a massive achievement for us.

“As well as that, the level of competition has been as difficult if not more so than previous years - Newtowne, who were our main challengers, had their first year in the league and they were a big, strong side with a number of players with Irish League experience, like Paul Brown, who had played for Ballymena United.

“We had two really good runs of results during the season. We won our first seven games but we had maybe started to get a wee bit ahead of ourselves because then we had a five week spell with some really bad results, including two heavy league defeats to Newtowne and Desertmartin and went out of the Irish Cup and Intermediate Cups, again after heavy defeats.

“But we responded well and managed to get back on track. We had difficulty in getting our pitch at times over the winter so we had built up a backlog of games and by the time the midweek games started, we still had seven games to play and Newtowne only had one game left, at our place.

“We knew when we started those midweek games that we could probably only afford to lose one more game - and we promptly went out and lost the first one! It was against Ballynure Old Boys, our only home defeat in the league.

“On one of the days we had a free Saturday, a lot of us went out to watch Newtowne playing against Clough Rangers Athletic and Clough produced a brilliant result to draw, which was a big boost for our own hopes.

“We knew by that stage that we had to keep winning and the crucial game was the one against Newtowne, where Matthew Boyd scored an equaliser in the dying minutes. If we had lost that game, Newtowne would have won the title that day.

“It’s difficult to pick out individuals because there has been such a good team spirit but getting Matthew Boyd back for the closing weeks of the season after being out for a while with a fractured kneecap was important.

“Getting Rodney Paul back from Wakehurst was a good signing and Colin Craig scored a number of important goals. Declan Scullion was excellent all season in goal and the likes of Mark Ritchie and Gareth Dickey were steady at the back. A lot of the new players we introduced to the team, like JB Dobbin and Jamie Craig also did brilliantly.

“As well as the players, club officials like Willie Hunter and Davy Craig were a massive help to me over the season.”

Raceview’s season isn’t quite over yet as they face Brantwood in the O’Gorman Cup final at Allen Park on May 22 but before then, there’s a chance for club players and officials to let their hair down in a special function at Eaton Park this Friday, marking the 10th anniversary of the club’s County Antrim Junior Shield success, prior to their step into intermediate football.

“It should be a great night with a lot of old faces and former players turning up and having the league trophy there will be the icing on the cake,” added Jason.

* Elsewhere in the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League, Clough Rangers Athletic – the most improved team in 2012 – missed the opportunity to finish the campaign in a mid-table position when they lost 7-1 to Kilbride Swifts in their final game. Denver Davidson was the Clough scorer.

* In the Canada Trophy final, played at Dixon Park on Friday night, 3rd Ballyclare Old Boys beat Mallusk Athletic 3-2 after extra-time.