Instonians 2 v 1 Bangor

Bangor's dream of silverware this season came to an abrupt halt on Sunday when, despite taking the lead, the lost 2-1 to Instonians in the semi-final of the Anderson Cup.
It was a hectic weekend for the Seasiders as they had faced Lisnagarvey less than 24 hours earlier and earned a credible point in a tough 2-2 draw.
But the focus for the weekend was always on Sunday's game and for much of it Bangor looked like securing a first appearance in the Anderson Cup under its present format.
Perhaps inevitably Bangor tired in the closing stages and this allowed Instonians back into the game and they have now booked a place in the final against Annadale.
It could have been so much different if Bangor had made their early dominance tell and held more than just a 1-0 lead with 20 minutes to go.
They got that lead after Simon Hunter won a penalty corner in the ninth minute and following a clever pass from Michael Harte, Chris Campbell deftly deflected home.
Bangor remained on top for the rest of the first period with only a few sporadic attacks from Instonians. When they did venture forward they found the experienced Bangor rearguard of Adam Reading, Gareth Kidd and Alan Irwin in stubborn form.
In midfield as well Bangor were going toe-to-toe with their more illustrious opponents and often coming out on top. The embodiment of this was Nicky Blease, who despite attending RBAI himself, tore into the Instonians midfield at every available opportunity.
Bangor only mustered one more significant chance for all their efforts and again it fell to Campbell. Steven McClean won the ball and fed Dowie Holley. He turned well and spotted Campbell on the charge through the middle. When the feisty forward got the ball he made short work of the goalkeeper and his only error was in rushing his shot, which only hit the side-netting.
In the second period Instonians visibly lifted themselves with their pair of Irish internationals, Mark Irwin and Patrick Brown, keen to have their presence felt.
But it was another Old Boy who saved his side this time when penalty corner expert Chris Barnes struck. From his side's first set-piece he rifled the ball into the roof of John Tormey's net and drew Instonians level.
Bangor were clearly tiring and Instonians in the ascendancy but still the game swung from end to end. Bangor can count themselves unlucky that they did not win more penalty corners in the second half as the umpiring decisions failed to fall their way. Instonians were also getting wound up and Irwin was sin-binned for a mixture of stick tackling and dissent.
However, this didn't stop Instonians and with 10 minutes left Barnes sealed the game. Running into the circle on the left he fired a bullet of a reverse stick shot past Tormey and sent his side into the final.
Still there was entertainment to had for the sizeable crowd in the closing minutes as Bangor tried desperately for an equaliser and Instonians aimed to stretch their lead. But the Belfast side could not get a third, being stopped by brave defending, Tormey, the goal-post or a combination of the latter two.
Bangor were left to rue another missed chance to win a place in a final and now have just four league games remaining to try and finish as high up the table as possible. This week they are away to Banbridge at 2.30pm.