Mossley 2 v 1 Bangor (Irish Senior Cup)

Bangor crashed out of the Irish Senior Cup, the oldest cup competition in the world, at the first hurdle on Saturday when they lost 2-1 to Senior One side Mossley at The Glade.
After an unbeaten run of four games Bangor capitulated to a young Mossley side in what was the upset of a largely predictable round.
Former Instonian Ricky Lee grabbed both goals, including one just 10 minutes from the end, to give the Newtownabbey side a place in the last 16 and a tie against Raphoe.
Bangor should be very disappointed with their failure once again to step up to the plate in the grand old cup competition, but at least in previous years they were beaten by some of the best teams in the country. Despite their promising young team, led by talented captain Simon Todd, Mossley will do well to be promoted from Senior One this year.
But on Saturday they were deserved winners against the Seasiders for showing more tenacity, desire and finishing prowess once the chances came their way.
The home side started the brighter, perhaps an indication of things to come, and although Bangor nearly opened the scoring through Chris Campbell is was a long time before either goalkeeper was called into action. When it did come it was Bangor's John Tormey and all he could do was kick the ball out of the goal after the unmarked Lee was allowed to deflect home a fiercely struck free-hit midway through the half.
This shook the Premier League side and as the half wore on they improved. With five minutes to go before the break a strong Simon Hunter run won his side's first penalty corner and Adam Reading coolly blasted home. It appeared normal service had resumed.
With just seconds of the half left Michael Harte waltzed through the home defence and, having beaten the goalkeeper, somehow managed to fire wide.
The second half seemed to be going Bangor's way and looked just a matter of biding their time but poor attacking and play and dogged Mossley defending kept the Senior One side in it. With not long left they were given their reward for holding on.
The ball was stolen in midfield from they embarked on a pacy counter-attack. The initial shot hit the left hand post but Lee was on hand to turn the ball home and give Mossley the advantage in the closing stages.
But Bangor still had the chance to force the game into extra time with a number of penalty corners in the closing minutes. This time Reading could not find his range and the corner routine faltered as the pressure increased. There was to be no way out for Bangor because they failed to make their superiority either side of half-time pay off.
This week it's back to league action when Kilkeel visit Bangor. Kilkeel are always tough, physical opposition and unless the performance is substantially improved on last week Bangor could face another embarrassing defeat. If they do manage to beat the Mourne men it will almost certainly lift Bangor out of the relegation dogfight and leave it a two horse race between Kilkeel and Civil Service.