Saturday August 6th saw the third and final installment of the 2016 GMcG Chartered Accountants Lurgan Town Cup, this time it was the turn of the Under 16’s.

Unfortunately, the day before the tournament one of the participating teams withdrew and after trying to find a last minute replacement Lurgan Town’s Under 17 squad stepped into the breach. With this team being overage they entered with the agreement that they would forfeit all their matches.

Group A was a tight group with Banbridge Town snatching the top spot late in their last group game with a 2-0 win over Rathfriland, the second goal giving them the top spot on goal difference over the Lurgan Town Lisburn League side with Rathfriland taking up third place and the Lurgan Town U17’s placed bottom.

Group B saw Loughgall Youth finish as runaway leaders with three wins from their three matches but the remaining positions went right down to the final whistle of the Ballymacash Rangers v Banbridge Rangers match but Banbridge were unable to secure the 4 goal win they required to jump from fourth in the group to second and through goal difference Lurgan Town’s Mid Ulster League side grabbed second place with Banbridge Rangers taking third and Ballymacash in fourth.

Going into the finals Ballymacash Rangers were assured of winning the GMcG Lurgan Town Plate as they faced the Lurgan Town U17 side. Lurgan Turn won the game but the records will show a 3-0 win to Ballymacash Rangers.

The GMcG Lurgan Town Plaque match between Rathfriland Youth and Banbridge Rangers was a tight match and entering the final minutes of the match, with the team’s level at 1-1, it looked like it would take penalties to separate the teams but near the end Rathfriland Youth broke and grabbed the winner.

The longest, tightest and the game with the most drama of the day came in the GMcG Lurgan Town Shield Final between the two Lurgan Town sides. With the match ending 2-2 it was straight to penalties but neither side was for letting it go and after every player had taken a penalty each the sides still could not be separated and both coaching teams agreed that it would be unfair for one team to win and the other to lose and that the two teams should share the trophy win.

The GMcG Lurgan Town Cup Final was between Banbridge Rangers and Loughgall Youth. This match too was a tight match with Loughgall taking the lead in the first half only for Banbridge to equalize in the second. Entering stoppage time, the two sides were still level but Banbridge gave away a free kick on the edge of the box and from the resulting cross somehow the ball was scrambled into the back of the net to give Loughgall Youth their first trophy under their new manager Michael Lynch.

Lurgan Town Football Club would like to thank those who attended the 2016 GMcG Lurgan Town Cup on each of the three days and congratulations to all the winners of the respective trophies this summer.