|
On Saturday Bangor 2nds made the short journey to Shaws Bridge looking for
their first points of a frustrating season so far. Too often they have
dominated in one half of the match only to falter in the other. However,
you could tell by the atmosphere in the changing room that this was the
day when things changed. A strong team talk got the 11 players focused and
highly motivated.
Once the match got under way it was Inst who put the pressure on for the
first couple of minutes but their attacks were thwarted by a strong and
very disciplined Bangor defence, marshalled by the superb Irwin and his
able deputies, Phil Mcausland, Graham Larmour and Andrew Gowdy. Bangor
soon found their rhythm and produced an excellent display of fast moving
attacking hockey. The drive of Macafee and Kirkpatrick up against the
experienced Taylor and the energy of Gareth Hamill made for a very
balanced midfield which gelled together well. This, combined with the
constant movement of the forward line, enabled Bangor to exert some
serious pressure on the Instonians rearguard.
It was only a matter of time before Bangor created a clear chance on goal.
It soon came when a Gowdy pass down the line found Macafee who made a
typically strong run down the left and slipped the ball to Hamill. The
Bangor midfielder showed great composure and placed his shot into the
bottom corner, giving the home goalkeeper no chance.
It was only a matter of minutes before it was 2-0. With Alan Irwin pushing
up he found great joy in providing defense splitting balls to Morton time
and time again. It was from one such Irwin that lead to Bangor's second
goal. He found Morton, lurking high on the left. The Bangor winger drew
out the keeper and slipped a pass to the onrushing Edwards who fired home.
The home side were shell shocked and responded with a period of pressure
of their own. A short corner strike found a Bangor foot on the line and
Cooke dispatched the resulting penaly flick to half the deficeit before
the interval.
Instonians, to their credit, came out firing on all cylinders in the
second half. They seemed to find quite a lot of joy down the right with ex
Bangor player Pete Snodden proving a handful and putting in some dangerous
crosses. It was from one of these crosses that Inst won a short corner
with Cooke scoring again with an unstoppable shot.
However, as much as the home side applied the pressure, they couldn’t
create any clear cut chances. In fact it was the Bangor counter attack
that was causing more problems. Great balls from Gowdy down the left
constantly found the high runners up front and these in turn led to
chances for Morton and Edwards but neither could get past the Inst keeper.
Bangor were also finding some joy down the right with the excellent
Larmour providing good passes to the midfield and attack. As the half wore
on Bangor legs began to tire as expected but their effort and commitment
did not. At one stage Phil Mcausland made a lung busting run to the
opposition circle to receive a pass only to realise where he was and how
unfamiliar an environment the opposition circle was to him. However to his
credit he did win a short corner in which Gowdy forced the Inst keeper
into a fine save.
At the final whistle Bangor were relieved to get their first points of the
season. Bangor should learn from this game, continue to play with the same
discipline and motivation like every week and they should start moving up
the table. |