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Bangor Mens Hockey Club fourth eleven stretched their recent unbeaten run
in Junior League Three to six games with a comfortable 5-1 victory away to
basement side South Antrim third eleven at Laurelhill in Lisburn.
Skipper Andrew Walker had yet again endured a tiring week piecing together
11 players for this clash, but the players that travelled put up a
sterling performance. The match was an hour late in starting due to a
communication faux pas within the South Antrim club, and as a result the
Bangor side were somewhat below par in the opening half. The early
exchanges were dominated by the home side, but the Bangor defence,
marshalled by the evergreen Patrick McMillan, held firm. As the half wore
on the Bangor side however were beginning to grab a foothold in the match.
John Poole first went close with a rasping shot, but soon after Aaron
Savage did open the scoring with a clinical finish, having been teed up by
the industrious Stevie Robinson. The lead was doubled shortly afterwards
when once again Poole rolled the ball into the path of the onrushing
Gareth Stranaghan who coolly slotted past the hapless home custodian.
Despite the two goal cushion the fourths play was disjointed somewhat, the
final pass all too often going astray.
The second period was much improved, particularly at the back. Youngster
Carl McManus was beginning to impose himself in the contest, as time and
again he linked up well with Keith Mulholland on the right side in
bringing the ball out of defence. Glenn Stranaghan and Neil Martin added
solidity, and their decision making in clearing any danger from the home
side was good. The third goal came midway through the half, and it was one
based on the credentials of pass and move hockey right from defence. The
end result was an exchanging of passes between Keith Mulholland and Gareth
Stranaghan, and when the latter slipped past the goalie and flicked
goalwards the defenders could not keep the ball out. By this stage the
Bangor side were dominating and in the last 10 minutes they added a
further 2 goals. First Stranaghan received a pass from Walker and claimed
his hattrick by scoring at the near post, and then McMillan scored from a
penalty corner from the rebound. The home side did have time to get a
consolation when Nick Craig could not keep out a fine effort from mid
circle.
A comfortable victory for the fourths in the end, but the performances
will need to be a little better in the next few weeks against much sharper
teams such as Antrim, Instonians and Lisnagarvey. |