Bangor crashed to their most demoralising defeat in years when they were thumped 8-0 by Lisnagarvey at home
last weekend.

To make matters even worse it continued their barren start to the season and they are not rooted to the bottom of
the Premier League, the only team not to have a point this season.

In the corresponding fixture last season Bangor actually won 4-2 so it was a truly amazing fall from grace. There is
no room for excuses in senior hockey but Bangor can point to seven first team regulars being missing because of
injury, weddings and business as some form of mitigating circumstances.

It's been a horrific start to the season for the Seasiders but they still have plenty of time to save their blushes and
guarantee their Premier League status. October's fixtures offer four games against the so-called lesser teams in the
league and therefore points will count virtually double.

And Bangor should finally be able to count on a full squad, with the exception of Chris Campbell who is on
honeymoon, for the month. The huge run of games starts with a tough away trip to Raphoe this Saturday.

As has happened in several games this season, Bangor got off to a poor start and never even got a foothold in the
game. This time it wasn't entirely their fault as the umpire awarded a very soft penalty corner - to the surprise of
both sides - and Irish international Timmy Cockram found the top corner to open the scoring.

The visitors doubled their lead just a few minutes later when the ball was given away cheaply in the Bangor
twenty-five and a couple of quick passes left Whitten with an easy finish for 2-0.

Bangor did briefly threaten in and around the Lisnagarvey circle but, in truth, never looked like breaking through or
putting the visitors under consistent pressure. And as the game wore on Bangor's lack of depth and options from the
bench became clear while those on the pitch struggled to keep up with the ever rotating Hillsborough side. And the
third goal came soon after to leave Bangor once again beaten long before half-time.

There was a brief period of parity at the start of the second half but as the second period wore on Bangor tired and
left goalkeeper John Tormey increasingly exposed the goals rattled in. Bangor weren't helped when Michael
Manogue was sin-binned for arguing with the umpire after having an appeal for a penalty corner turned down.
Lisnagarvey exploited their numeric superiority well and added goals from Cockram and Mark Robinson during
that 10 minutes.

And by that stage Bangor were out on their feet and ripe for the picking. Lisnagarvey did just that and scored with
regularity in the closing minutes - young Patrick Martin, son of Olympic gold medallist Steve Martin - grabbing his
first two senior goals.

A game best put behind them and now the most important run of games for many a season faces the Seasiders.
Three wins or better during October will turn the season round and all but secure Premier League status for next
season. But that's a lot easier said that done. Especially when they start with a tricky away trip to face a competitive
Raphoe side in Donegal.
 

 

Written by Simon Hunter