From the midst of a Mid-Ulster League title race to a televised showdown in the Irish Cup, it’s been a whirlwind two years for Ballymacash Rangers.
Battling hard for promotion, it was an objective they would ultimately fulfil; 79 points out of a possible 90 was good enough to fend off Crewe United and take their place in the play-off for a berth in the PIL.
From there, they swatted away Ballymena League representatives St James’ Swifts’ challenge and progressed into the third-tier for the first time ever in 2022, going on to take the new territory of the Irish League like a duck to water with a second-place finish and another promotion play-off the following year.
It wasn’t quite to happen for them against Knockbreda, falling to a 4-2 aggregate defeat, but it couldn’t take the shine off a fantastic first campaign in the Northern Irish third-flight in which they collected an impressive 60 points. Promotion into senior football has become the principal target and they are in a healthy position again; third-placed, they are a solitary point from the play-off spot in a season where they made the County Antrim Shield semi-finals for the first time ever and will now participate in a debut Irish Cup Sixth Round duel.
The visit of Glentoran will see another chapter written into the Ballymacash archives – and that of Michael Moore, who has been with the Lisburn club throughout their meteoric rise over the past few years.
In an exclusive interview with Football Chatters, the 38-year-old striker looks back on how Ballymacash has reached this point, reflecting on when he first joined the outfit in 2020 and contributed to a 2021/22 campaign that saw the club hit a quite staggering goalscoring total of 126 goals – over four a game on average – on their way to a crowning title glory.
The former Islandmagee frontman also discusses life in the Irish League in the red and white shirt, which started like a house on fire and was a blaze that has never really been doused.
Lee Forsythe’s men weren’t quite able to complete the job as far as promotion was concerned, with Moore feeling that the delay to the play-off caused by the saga surrounding Warrenpoint Town’s failure to secure a Championship Licence which culminated in their dramatic relegation to the PIL for the 2023/24 season was of more benefit to ‘Breda than his side, but the marksman, who hit 11 strikes across all competitions, also said there was little time for despondency given a new season was inevitably right around the corner.
With a handful more new recruits, topped off by the big-name signing of striker Benny Igiehon who has went on to bag a joint-league-leading 12 goals in the PIL, Ballymacash retain promotion ambitions and are rolling along nicely – albeit they enter this Irish Cup clash against the Glens on the back of a 3-2 loss at newly-promoted Coagh United at the weekend that they will swiftly want to atone.
Let’s start from the start, though. Promotion from the Mid-Ulster League always had to be target number one, hadn’t it?
“Yeah, that was the aim that we first set out when Lee first came in,” Moore reflects.
“During Covid, I think we only played about two matches and then the league was suspended, obviously, with the Covid coming in, but again, we started the next season like a house on fire.
“We scored 126 goals and, yeah, I done well that season, but it wasn’t just myself, you know, there was a lot of goals around the team.
“(Guillaume) Keke scored plenty of goals, Chrissy Ferguson, Dylan Davidson got plenty, Justy Armstrong and everyone scored plenty, Jordan Morrison the skipper I think got 16 or 17, so there was goals coming from everywhere, we done very well.
“And I have to give Crewe their due credit, they pushed us the whole way.
“We were winning every week and never really seen the gap widening too much until towards the end, and as I say, I scored the goal, we drew 1-1 with Crewe at home, and I scored our goal and it won us the league; not mathematically, but it was like 20 or 30 goal difference, you know, and we would have had to lose every game and they would have had to win every game, et cetera.
“So you know, it was good, it was great for the club, and that was the main aim, to get us to the play-off, and obviously we went on and won the play-off, so yeah, it was job done.”
Winning the league with just a solitary league defeat to their name – which, indeed, came at Crewe Park in a 2-0 defeat in mid-January – and 25 victories was in itself a statement of intent.
Following that up with a jubilant success in the play-off against St James’, with Ballymacash victorious 5-2 over two legs and Moore bagging an important equaliser in the second leg in west Belfast, it confirmed ‘Cash’s place in the PIL and a historic first-ever season in the Irish League.
From then, they made a flying start to life in the third division, racing to a 3-0 win away to Portstewart on their NIFL debut before hammering Banbridge Town 6-1 and sealing another 3-0 triumph over Moyola Park. Only a last-gasp equaliser denied them victory over eventual champions Bangor at the end of September and, by the end of the year, they were top of the table.
Moore attributes the fast start to a number of factors. A fairly low turnover of players didn’t disrupt what he described as a “tight-knit” group, with the difference-making recruits of prolific former Portstewart striker Zach Barr and one-time Cliftonville, Ards and Carrick Rangers goalkeeper Brian Neeson adding quality to the ranks.
He also believes Ballymacash’s initial status as an unknown quantity stood to them as they blew away their rivals and made a barnstorming start – it wasn’t until suffering a 3-2 home loss to Queen’s University on December 17 that they tasted defeat for the first time in league play.
Forsythe’s ‘Cash never wavered though, and Moore also credits that with how they were able to push on and clinch the play-off spot.
“You know what, I do think it put us in good stead,” he says on how winning the Mid-Ulster title in such emphatic fashion set them up for PIL life, “because we were tight-knit, and the gaffer, he didn’t bring loads of players in.
“He brought in four or five, really, just to sort of bulk up the squad a bit, the likes of big Zach, bringing in Bam in nets; for me, he’s the best signing the club’s ever had, he’s been absolutely unbelievable and just keeps getting better.
“And I just think, we done really well, I think we caught a lot of people by surprise.
“I don’t think a lot of the established teams, your Limavadys, Queen’s, et cetera, really knew what we were about, and we caught a lot of people by surprise.
“But, you know, when you play everybody once, surely the second time around, people then know what you’re about.
“But we done really well, and again, all the players, the whole squad, it was a squad game, you know, you need a big squad in the PIL because, week to week, you’ve two or three missing, you’ve suspensions, you’ve injuries, you know, we done really well.
“I will be honest, I think Lee said in a previous interview, I do think the break sort of hindered us a lot more than Knockbreda regarding the play-off.
“We were in great form in the split, I think we won four and drew one of the five games, and Knockbreda had lost two or three in a row.
“So, again, maybe the break done them a bit more good than us, but no qualms, they deserved to stay up over the two legs, so we just had to lick our wounds and go again, you know.”
Moore adds that while there was confidence in the dressing room before the season started that they could hold their own in the upper echelons of the table, promotion wasn’t a stated be-all and end-all for 2022/23.
He elaborates: “Well, we all knew the quality we had in the dressing room, we’d confidence in ourselves, but being realistic, at the start of the season, if we’d got top six, it would’ve been a great season for us.
“Obviously, we got off to a good start and we won plenty, it took us a while to lose our first game in the PIL, and we done really well and we pushed on from a great start, the feelgood factor was there the whole way through.
“Now, I think we’re starting to get back to that tight-knit we had from last season, you know, a few ex-players have come back, and the group, the camaraderie about the group is back again.
“It was maybe missing for a few weeks there, sort of maybe high-profile names come in, but I just think we’ve got back to doing what we do best, albeit we lost on Saturday, but I think before then, we’d started to look like our old selves.”
With the loan recruit of Loughgall ace Aaron Duke and the capture of forward Owen McKeown from Tobermore United, Ballymacash have bolstered their pack in a bid to close the gap at the PIL summit.
Limavady United are on top of the third-tier mountain right now, with 32 points from their 14 games played to date that means they sit six points clear at the peak.
Paul Owens’ side look a formidable animal, with arguably unprecedented goalscoring prowess displayed this term as their 47 goals scored in the league to date stand to.
Late in the January transfer window, they further bolstered their pack with the arrival of former Cliftonville and Coleraine centre-forward Michael McCrudden, who joins an attacking line-up that already includes 2022/23 PIL Player of the Year nominees Alex Pomeroy and Ian Parkhill, former Dungannon Swifts striker Joe McCready, youngster Lewis Tosh and energetic Dean Brown. It has led many to consider them as PIL favourites at the midway point – but it’s never over until the fat lady sings.
Acknowledging their quality, Moore declared himself impressed by the Roesiders’ offerings and referenced a ding-dong battle at The Bluebell which the visitors won 4-3 in the dying embers, but he and ‘Cash aren’t willing to let them run away with it.
“Limavady are a very good side,” he says. “They beat us a few weeks ago, scored a 95th-minute penalty, but they’re a good side and they’ve a lot of quality in the top end of the pitch.
“They do score a lot of goals but, in this league, if they have an off day, doesn’t matter who they’re playing, whether it’s top of the table or bottom of the table, you’re going to lose.
“You know, Coagh came up last year from the Ballymena League through the play-offs like we did the year before, you know, they’ve went and beat Warrenpoint, they beat us, they beat Moyola, three teams that people would talk about a lot more than they would Coagh.
“So, anybody in the league can beat anyone on their day if you’re not on it.
“Limavady drew 1-1 with Rathfriland away on Saturday also, you know, so teams will drop points, and don’t get me wrong, Limavady are favourites now, they’re in a very strong position, but there’s still loads to play for.
“There’s still 12 or 13 league games to go… a couple of wins here and there, and next thing you know, it’s one or two points off the top, and who knows. You know, there’s still probably four or five teams still fancy themselves to have a run for promotion.”
The state of play in the Premier Intermediate is too close for comfort with half of the season gone.
Below Limavady, Queen’s University occupy the promotion play-off spot at present having collected 26 points from 13 matches, but merely seven points separate the Students from Dollingstown, who have 19 points from 14 fixtures, in ninth-place.
At near enough the halfway stage, there is still so much licence for twists and turns, and from Moore’s point of view, coming out on top of a small battle every week will inch you closer to winning the war. But football is a non-linear sport, and given that many teams in the PIL have ambitions to take the leap into the senior ranks that comes with achieving promotion into the Championship, any team is capable of turning over any team throughout the term.
“It sort of reminds me a wee bit this year of the English Championship,” Moore said.
“You could go four or five defeats, but you could win three or four in a row and next thing, you’re in the top three or four… you know, every week’s a battle, no matter who you’re playing.
“You know, it’s tough, sometimes there’s heavy pitches or teams are sitting in, you know, it’s just every game’s a battle, and if you’re not on it, you’ll get turned over, plain and simple.”
“Obviously, the aim from the start of the season, continuing on from last season, was promotion.
“I’d say that’s the aim of most teams; being realistic, you’ve probably five or six from the start who think they can win the league and get promoted and we’re no different.
“You know, we had a wee bit of a poor spot with getting beat by Coagh, but there’s plenty to play for and there’s loads and loads of quality in the dressing room, you know, and it’s still a long way to go.
“There’s still three or four months left to go and anything can happen in the league.
“Fingers crossed we can get back on the horse and have a good rattle at it, try and get three or four wins on the bounce, and who knows where it takes you.”
After Glentoran come calling, it’s very much down to business for Ballymacash.
Featured image from Paul Harvey Photography.
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