As we all know former Evergreen player Gavan Holohan pulled off one of the shocks of the century in the FA Cup when he scored two and earned the man of the match award for his performance against Southampton for Grimsby.
However, closer to home Fort Rangers managed to pull off a shock of their own against his old side Evergreen when they knocked out the defending Champions in the opening round of the KCLR McCalmont Cup. In fact, Evergreen has won the competition every year since 2017, so their exit truly has blown the whole competition wide open.
Great win away to evergreen A in the McCalmount cup today, 3-2 after extra time.
— Fort Rangers FC (@fort_rangers) February 12, 2023
“Goal of the day” coming from @DionFitzpatrick to bring it too extra time. All without turncoat twinkle toes Nugent. Massive thanks to our sponsors Doherty’s bar and the grange inn pic.twitter.com/GhcBB4mwpq
See also: Holohan scores brace to help Grimsby defeat Premier League opponents Southampton
Fort Rangers are in the Premier Division themselves, after being promoted last year, however, were still considered underdogs heading into the tie. This is a fact that Fort manager and stalwart Jim Nugent admitted when speaking to Scoreline last weekend;
“We were given very little chance going into the game, and proper order. I think Evergreen was going for seven in a row. We were going in under no illusions, but we were up for the game. We got a bit of a buzz going and it just worked for us on the day. The fact we came back from 1-0, then 2-1 and won in extra time, it was absolutely fabulous.”
“Being realistic, it was only the first round, but it is the fact of who we beat, lads were buzzing. It’s a pity it wasn’t the final!”
See also: 2023 KCLR McCalmont Cup Draw
It does not get much harder though for Fort Rangers as they were drawn with Freebooters in the next round of the cup. Many may consider the current leaders of the Premier Division, Freebooters, to be considered favorites to now go on and win the whole competition, especially since they added former Wexford Youths player Emmet Nugent to their ranks. You see, Emmet made a January switch to The Blues, leaving behind the club managed by his father, yes that club is of course Fort Rangers;
“It is what it is. We beat Evergreen without Emmet, so it is not an issue for us. We have no qualms with it at all. I don’t think I am out of order here, but he is one of the best strikers in Kilkenny. So he needs to be playing at a good level, not saying Fort Rangers are not at a good level. Everything he does is meticulous, so he felt he needed a bit of a change. So fair play to him.”
“We are looking forward to it, I played with ‘booters myself, and a couple of the players played with them also, so there is a bit of a rivalry there. We will totally be up for that game.”
Listen back to the full interview with Jim below on Scoreline Extra: