The fourths continue to contribute more than their fair share to entertaining hockey in Junior League Three but once again ended up on the wrong side ofa 5-4 classic, this time against Antrim.

 

Three minutes into this match at Antrim and the fourths were a goal to the good. Yet another buoyant start, with the ball fairly zinging around on a damp surface, saw Bangor capitalise on early pressure. Hamill, running on to a ball from Tweed, nudged past a defender and the ball fell to Campbell for a straightward tap-in.

Bangor's passing was precise and their movement sharp enough to create chances. Twice Wilson had shots cleared by the keeper and, from the first of many short corners to be earned, Stranaghan fired narrowly wide. However, as the rain fell and the skies darkened so Bangor's air of insouciance lifted. Two avoidable errors allowed the home side to gain a scarcely merited 2- 1 advantage.

Five minutes late it was  3-1, McEvoy unable to prevent a rebound effort from an initial short corner strike. Then, another dent to the pride of logic. Far on the left, Campbell collected from Irvine. He burst into the circle, feigned one pass splendidly before slipping to Wilson. A side step and a sashay later, Wilson had created space and neatly dispatched a shot into the corner making it3-2. Almost immediately, Bangor achieved parity, Tweed pouncing on an errant pass before firing home confidently from the edge of the circle.

 

From the restart, Bangor continued in confident vein. Following a break on the left, McCalister collected at the right of the circle, from where he fired into the circle. Hamill, all piston like movement as usual, was first to react and deflected home to give Bangor the lead.

Momentum should have carried them on, but within minutes they had ceded advantage, a short corner proving their undoing again. And then, another period of stasis, during which Bangor appeared to be asleep. With but ten minutes to play, the home side regained the initiative, the ball not being cleared effectively enough from a short corner.

 

Suitably piqued by the perceived injustice of it all, Bangor pushed forward in the remaining minutes, but their urgency counteracted their effectiveness and the points slipped away in a 5-4 defeat.