Bangor Mens Hockey Club fourths welcomed Instonians’ third string to Bangor Sportsplex last Friday evening for what turned out to be an entertaining Corporate Coaching Junior League Three clash that ended all square at 3 goals apiece. 
 

The fourths have been struggling in the league over the past month or so, a far cry from some of their early season form, and when the visitors took the lead with less than 10 minutes play another defeat looked on the cards.  The Bangor side rallied though, and indeed for large chunks of the first half they had the better of the play.  Within 5 minutes of going a goal down, Gareth Stranaghan pounced on a misplaced Instonians pass and his resultant shot was deflected past the hapless visiting goalkeeper.  Soon after the fourths found themselves in front when Keith Mulholland, returning after his honeymoon sojourn, picked out Andrew McIlhagga lurking at the far post who in turn finished with a deft deflection.  At this stage the fourths were dominant in terms of possession, but all too often the final pass was missing.  Instonians then grabbed an equaliser from one such misplaced pass in the Bangor ranks, punishing the home mistakes and going into the half time interval at two goals each. 
 

The second half, it must be said, was poor in quality.  The fourths somehow seemed to lose their way, and when the Belfast side scored midway through the half it looked as if the 3 points were going their way.  However, the home side managed to piece together some promising moves going forward and win some short corners.  Youngster Ryan McCalister was instrumental in the equaliser as it was his endeavour that firstly earned his team the short corner, and then his mind was sharp as he latched onto a Stranaghan effort to finish at the far post.  The final 5 minutes or so were frenetic as both sides had chances to claim the winner.  The fourths goalie Andrew Patterson came to the rescue with a couple of good saves, whilst on the whistle the fourths ought to have claimed the points.  Mulholland released McIlhagga on the right but his pass towards Stranaghan a yard from goal was just too weak, an Instonians defender was able to intervene and the chance was gone.  Final score 3-3, probably a fair result. 
 

Many thanks to David Shields for umpiring.