Newest Ballynahinch football club make strong start

BALLYNAHINCH'S newest football club have made a terrific start to life in the Mid-Ulster League. Rangers have gone on a four-game winning run since their first ever competitive match against Moira Albion on 15 August, with their latest victory coming against fellow MUFL Division 3 side Epworth on Saturday as the Langley Road men progressed to the next round of the Marshall Cup after a thumping 8-1 win.

"We're off to a flying start," manager Aaron Cheevers explained. "We didn't really know what we were getting into when we joined the Mid-Ulster League.

I played in Intermediate A but never at this standard (Division 3), so we don't really have a clue about any of the teams we're playing. "But we've looked strong in the first couple of games," he added.

The team was founded back in April by former Temple Rangers player Jason Kelly, as interest in re-starting a team out of the Langley Road estate grew. Jason approached former Castlewellan Town, Ballynahinch United and Banbridge Rangers player Aaron, himself a Langley Road resident, and asked if he would be interested in taking over as manager.

Aaron, who played for Dunmurry Rec last season, admits he was initially reluctant to take on the mantle, but decided he couldn't turn the opportunity down. "To be honest, I was going to pack football in this year and concentrate on my two wee lads.

"But it's only down the road from me, so I said I'd help them out, and with the support I'm getting from the club committee, I couldn't turn it down. "I've never had any experience of management, so it's all new to me, but I'm absolutely loving it.

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There hasn't been a football team playing out of the Langley Road estate since Ballynahinch Young Men folded in 2024, with Aaron explaining that the support the club have received has been "unreal"."