'He was brilliant': Defender plays full half as goalkeeper in comeback Irish League victory
Ballymacash Rangers boss Gary Hamilton praised defender Eamonn Hughes after he played a full half of Friday’s come-from-behind 3-2 Premier Intermediate League win over local rivals Lisburn Distillery as a goalkeeper.
After club captain Jordan Williamson was given his marching orders on the stroke of half-time at the Bluebell Stadium, Hughes put his hand up to don the gloves after the break.
Hamilton’s men fell behind through Callum McComb’s early strike and Distillery doubled their advantage just moments into the second half when Dean Lewis converted past Hughes.
However, 10-man Ballymacash sparked a remarkable comeback with Jonny Doyle and Harry O’Neill getting them on level terms before Jack Clarke netted a winner with three minutes left to play.
Hughes usually plies his trade at centre-back and has made 17 league appearances for Ballymacash this season having joined from Amateur League club Willowbank ahead of the current campaign.
With number two Russell Eagleson missing out on Friday due to injury, it left the Lisburn-based club in a tricky situation when former Ballymena United shot-stopper Williamson received a straight red, but Hamilton credited Hughes for a solid showing.
"He comes from a GAA background, he has played GAA, so it was the obvious choice to go into goals,” Hamilton told the club’s media channel. “He was brilliant.
"Their second goal, he actually makes a great save at the start of it and we switched off and didn’t help him out.
"After that he came and took a couple of crosses, couple of good punches, but what really pleased me most was right at the end when they threw everybody up, we were throwing bodies in front of everything and making sure the ball didn’t end up in the net.
"I’m proud of that part. I’ve said to them before that sometimes we don’t do enough of that.
"From our set-pieces into their box, we looked really hungry to get on the end of the ball and had that desire...we ended up getting three goals out of it.”
Hughes was able to see out more than 40 minutes without conceding in what was a crucial victory as Hamilton’s side look to keep their promotion hopes alive.
With the top-four sealing a spot in next season’s revamped 16-team Championship, Ballymacash currently sit eighth, three points adrift of fourth-placed Strabane Athletic.