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Another trip to Cookstown and another agonising defeat. This time a place
in the Kirk Cup semi-final was at stake but Bangor's result was all too
familiar.
After a hard working and disciplined performance Bangor ultimately
succumbed in the final ten minutes and lost 3-1 to last year's league
champions.
In almost every game they have played against Cookstown in the last three
or four seasons the match follows the same script. Bangor desperately need
a new screenwriter.
Whereas so often in the past Andrew Barbour has proved Bangor's nemesis,
this time it was the unheralded Thomas Hutchison who dealt the killer
blow. Three of them, in fact, after 50 goal-less minutes had gone by.
That's not to say there wasn't plenty of ambition from both sides. Bangor
actually dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes but the home got
stronger as the first half progressed. And goalkeeper John Tormey was
called into action more as half-time approached. He made several smart
saves and when he was beaten Simon Irvine and Simon Scales were both on
hand to clear off the line.
Bangor's composed play and the intelligent work of Stephen McClean and
Michael Harte wasn't turned into too many chances to open the scoring but
the Seasiders reached half-time all square and confident they could get
something from the game.
While the first half was a little unexciting in places, the second made
for more entertaining viewing. Cookstown, led by Ivan Steen, ratcheted up
the pressure on pressure on the Bangor defence and while they committed
men forward this allowed room for strong runners, such as Jamie McAuley
and Chris Campbell, to hurt them on the counter.
In truth, the opening Cookstown goal was coming for some time. It came
from a penalty corner when Hutchison flicked the ball home from the top of
the circle. And they would have expected the floodgates to open. They
didn't and Bangor were on level terms just a minute later.
Showing typical resilience Mark Lappin ran hard after a pass from David
McClune straight from the re-start and suddenly found himself one-on-one
with the Cookstown goalkeeper. His cool finish didn’t reflect it was his
first goal of the season.
Bangor managed not to follow Cookstown into conceding immediately after
they scored and remained on even terms until the last 10 minutes. By then
both sides were down to 10 men. Simon Hunter reacted far too aggressively
to a bad tackle and was yellow carded for shoving a Cookstown player. And
Cookstown's Stephen Cuddy followed him into the sin-bin for running 50
yards to offer the umpire some advice.
Reduced in numbers and with tiredness creeping in the chances for
Cookstown came with more regularity and they took the lead again when
Steen crossed from the left wing for Hutchison to tap in at the back post.
Bangor now had to throw caution to the wind and try to steal something
from the game. That never really looked like happening despite a few
penalty corners and even when they were returned to their full compliment
it didn't last for long, Irvine replacing Hunter in the sin-bin for a
cynical challenge on Steen.
With just a minute left on the clock Hutchison grabbed his, and his
side's, third with an almost carbon copy of his first.
With that, Bangor's Kirk Cup campaign came to an end. This week the main
business of the league begins with a home game against Banbridge. The side
will play nine league games before Christmas and will be hoping for a
solid start against a team they traditionally compete with well. Otherwise
it could be a long winter. |