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Bangor travel to
Banbridge this Saturday with a place in the semi-finals of the Kirk Cup at
stake after comprehensively beating local rivals North Down at
Ballykillare.
In the last two seasons Bangor have made it through to the showpiece
'Super Sunday' event and they will be giving their all against a good
Banbridge side to make it a hattrick of semi-final appearances and
hopefully got a step further this time.
Despite a fractured pre-season Bangor appeared to have hit their straps
against North Down last weekend and ran out comfortable 6-1 winners, with
three goals in each half.
After the narrow victory over Mossley the previous week the improved
performance, albeit against weaker opponents, show the team are moving in
the right direction under new coach Stephen Jackson.
Also pleasing, is the fact Bangor scored four of their goals from penalty
corners from an increasingly slick looking routine, something the side
have lacked for many years.
Last Saturday's victory was settled early when three goals midway through
the first half took the wind out of North Down's sails. Simon Hunter
opened the scoring, against his former club, when he latched onto a good
move down the right wing and struck a first time shot into the bottom
corner of the goal.
The lead was doubled from Bangor's second penalty corner just minutes
later when Mark Lappin, the home side's stand-out performer on the day,
fired home from the right of the circle.
And Dowie Holley, an all too rare scorer these days, added the third soon
after when as he appeared to be crossing the ball from the right of the
circle a fortuitous deflection saw him open his tally for the season.
Throughout this period of superiority Bangor kept possession well and
goalkeeper John Tormey was relatively untroubled in the home goal. Adam
Reading had another accomplished game in front of him and marshalled his
defensive troops well when North Down did foray into the Bangor half. New
addition James Trimble also appeared to be settling in well on the right
of defence.
After being reminded of the importance of the fixture, Bangor upped their
game at the start of the second period and again hit North Down with a
three-goal salvo. This time, all three came from penalty corners as the
half took on a very apparent pattern.
North Down would attack, lose the ball high up the pitch and pacy Bangor
counter attacks would win penalty corners, from which the Seasiders would
score.
For the record, Simon Irvine got his first goal back at the club after
several seasons with this week's opponents Banbridge, David McClune also
opened his account for his second spell with the club and sandwiched in
between these, vice captain, Reading scored what will surely be the first
of many penalty corners this season.
In the closing stages as Bangor visibly tired and relaxed North Down did
snatch a late compensatory goal through Andrew Forrest. After arriving
late in the circle his initial shot was well saved by Tormey but the
rebound fell well for the North Down midfielder and he had plenty of time
to sweep the ball into the goal at the second attempt.
With just minutes remaining Bangor had further chances to extend their
lead when Michael Harte forced a point blank save from the North Down
goalkeeper and Hunter missed a gilt-edged opportunity for a second with
the goal at his mercy.
But overall the team can be happy with a professional performance and go
into the game against Banbridge with confidence. In the league last year
Bangor beat Banbridge 3-0 at home and drew 1-1 with them away.
This Saturday will be the first time Bangor play on Banbridge's newly laid
pitch at Havelock Park so the Seasiders may be in for a bumpy ride in more
ways than one.
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