Premier League : Bangor 3 v 2 Instonians

GREAT HOME WIN FOR BANGOR

Bangor got their Premier League season back on track on Saturday with a hard fought, but deserved, 3-2 victory over Instonians.

The previous week Instonians had beaten reigning league champions Annadale so Bangor can be rightly proud of their achievement.

Now, they must build upon it, aim to get something against Cookstown this weekend and make sure and beat Kilkeel away in the next league game. Then they will trully be able to challenge the bigger teams for league positions.

The Seasiders could not have had a better start against Instonians when Gareth Morton scored twice in the opening 10 minutes. Both goals came down the right after good work from the feisty Chris Campbell, his early green card clearly not holding him back.

For the first goal he robbed a defender and set up Morton whose reverse stick shot wasn't pretty, but was certainly effective in giving Bangor the lead.

That lead then doubled when Campbell again provided the initiative on the right before Michael Harte found Morton lurking at the back post with an intelligent pass. With the big striker's confidence up the rest was obvious.

Instonians gradually got into the game but with two Irish international forwards in their team they should really have tested Bangor's defence more. In fact, it was Bangor who went closest again, when Simon Hunter should have done better after being put through by Campbell.

Just before the break Instonians grabbed their lifeline in the game when Mark Gleghorne pounced. A long aerial ball was missed and with the defence out of position Gleghorne was in acres of space at the back post. John Tormey saved his first effort but could do nothing second time round as the rebound fell right to his stick.

The second half was an end to end affair with Bangor seeking a third to kill the game off and Instonians trying to draw level. They went close on a number of occasions and Tormey was to thank for several tidy saves.

As the second period worn on the influence of Dowie Holley in the middle of the pitch became more and more obvious. With both sides tiring Holley's workrate seemed to increase and his ability to keep possession helped Bangor maintain their lead. They really started to believe they could win it when, 12 minutes from the end, Harte popped up to score the third goal after a good run on the right from Dave McClune.

Instonians, now threw everything at the home defence. They grabbed one back from Ulster's top goalscorer Chris Barnes when he fired home from the top of the circle on his reverse side and it set up a tense final few minutes.

Bangor gave everything in holding onto their lead. This was reflected in Morton pulling a hamstring and Hunter and Jamie McAuley being carded for over zealous challenges. Hunter escaped with a green card but McAuley was unlucky to be sin-binned and didn't get back on the pitch before the end.

Still, Bangor held on, and in the dying stages even surged forward through the hard working Campbell and Holley. They weren't to grab the comfort of another goal but were happy enough to settle for 3-2 as the final whistle blew. If they peform as well as this every week the rest of the season will look after itself.