The Senior Football team have had another eventful season. The final league game at Castle Rushen ended with a 3-2 defeat which meant we would finish 4th in league and face the toughest semi-final match, away at top-of-league Ramsey Grammar. In blustery conditions up north, Ryan Nelson made the breakthrough 25 minutes in with a well worked goal from the left side. The second half saw few chances with the wind really affecting the match, but Ramsey finished strongly with a barrage of chances late on. Some resolute defending from Bo Coulter, Oisin Farrelly and Aidan Pickering kept the clean sheet intact, and the Saints held on to win 1-0 and go through to the final.
On Thursday last week, St. Ninian’s faced a strong QEII side in the final at The Bowl. QEII had won the league game 1-0 in Peel, so we knew we were in for a close game. After a nervy first 10 minutes, St. Ninian’s started to take control and created a couple of half chances through centre-forward Celeb Hewgill and wide man Chester Bell. However, against the run of play, QEII broke away and Oscar Bignall found himself one on one with the Saints keeper Aiden Pickering, and the boys from Peel were 1-0 up. Just before the half time whistle Nathan Little played a long free kick to the back post which evaded everyone, including the QEII keeper, and flew into the top corner to send the boys in for their half time oranges at 1-1.
The second half started much brighter from a St. Ninian’s perspective, with Ryan Nelson and Chester Bell causing the QEII full backs a real headache with their pace. Ben Ramsay started to pull a few strings in midfield, but it was Nathan Little who played a superb pass, cutting through the QEII defence, for Chester Bell to latch onto and slot home for a 2-1 lead. However, minutes later, another QEII counterattack saw Bignall through again and Bo Coulter mistimed his tackle and brought him down in the box giving the westerners a chance from the penalty spot. George Taylor stepped up and although Pickering got a strong hand to it, QEII were back level at 2-2. Just as the game looked like it was destined to head to extra time, two second half substitutes linked up with only a minute left. Greg Kelly found himself in space in the middle and played it through to the lively Eric Hill whose pace took him away from the QEII right back, Hill then smashed the ball high into the top corner to win the game for the Saints and send the crowd into raptures! A third Senior Shield in a row for St. Ninian’s and captain Deaglan Blake collected the trophy after the 3-2 win. Man of the Match was Chester Bell who had a superb performance, but a really strong team effort got us the win in the end! Well done to all involved this season, another successful year for the Saints.