Bangor 3 v 2 Portadown

Whilst the creditable cup victory at Raphoe last week provided much welcome relief from the weekly fluctuations of league fortune, the 3-2 victory over Portadown on Saturday is of greater importance for the fourths.

Those harbingers of doom whose collective axe was hovering acutely close to the fourth eleven neck, have now to temper their dark enthusiasm.

Nine points amassed with but four matches remaining means the team have a difficult end of season task but there was sufficient bite to their performance to suggest that all may not be lost.

From the off this was a match dictated by respective midfields. Tweed and Halliday were in feisty form, responding well to a competitive Portadown trio. The play was not particularly fluent, both teams guilty of misplaced passes and a sometimes poor first touch.

But after 20 minutes, it was the combination of Tweed and Halliday who created the crucial first clear opening. Their one-two resulted in Irvine collecting on the right. The subsequent cross was partially interrupted by a defender, but only into the path of Parker whose emphatic shot gave Bangor the lead.

Portadown responded with breaks of their own and indeed, were unlucky not to draw level. McEvoy kicked efficiently when threatened and one short corner effort clipped the outside of the post.

At the break, Messrs Shields and Mairs emphasised the importance of discipline. Sure enough, Portadown started at a quickened pace and for 10 minutes held the ascendancy. They scored following a move on the right.

To their credit, Bangor responded in kind. McDowell was finding space on the left and from a surging run switched play to Tweed whose pass to Parker was despatched into the goal equally as firmly as his first half conversion.

It was Bangor's turn to dominate and the forward line proved to have real nuisance value for some 10 minutes. Thankfully, they capitalised on the territorial advantage when Wilson combined with Campbell to increase the lead. Wilson harried the full back into an error, laid the ball to Campbell and with some aplomb waited for the outcoming keeper to commit before lifting the ball into the net.

And then the pattern of play shifted again. For the final 10 minutes, Portadown pushed forward but McCreedy, Kirkpatrick and Douglas held firm. One penalty corner effort did reduce the deficit and made for a somewhat frantic last five minutes.

But there were no further goals and Bangor emerged with two very welcome points. Many thanks to Paddy McCalister and Noel Wishart for umpiring and man of the match was Neill Matthew McCreedy