Bangor travelled to Lough Moss on Saturday to play their most important game of the season so far, knowing that a win would go some way to securing junior one status for next season. Taking on a spirited Annadale side sitting bottom of the table the Bangor lads knew this was by no means  going to be an easy game. The match started with Bangor dominating possession on a fantastic new surface at Lough Moss. Bangor were putting some excellent passing sequences together in the early stages but the Annadale defence was equal to any threat posed. The balance of play continued in Bangor's favour but on numerous occasions in the final third the final pass or attempt on goal eluded the visitors. Annadale did well to soak up the pressure and proved dangerous on the counter attack. Midway through the first half a neat move from Bangor resulted in Gareth Stranaghan finishing in the bottom corner to put the seasiders ahead.   Annadale responded however and struck back within five minutes when they pounced on sloppy Bangor passing to level the scores.  Bangor continued to press and squandered numerous chances before they managed to regain the lead when Dave Edwards showed his class by beating four defenders before finding Jonny Boyd unmarked in the circle to slot home.

The second half continued in the same vain as the first with Bangor dominating possession but giving the ball away too easily when it counted. There were opportunities for the Bangor forwards to put the game out of sight and on another day it could have been six or seven. The tension on the sidelines was relieved when Andrew McIllhaga fired home to make it 3-1 but, to their credit, the young Annadale team never gave up.  Annadale seemed to throw caution to the wind in the last third of the game and with eight minutes to go, pulled a goal back.  Confidence grew in among the home side but Bangor, marshalled by Alan Irwin at sweeper, managed to see out the final minutes of the game.  An important win for Bangor which brings them back into mid table and will give them confidence going into to next weeks big cup match in Cork.   Next week the seconds will make the long trip to Cork to face Bandon in the Irish Junior Cup.   It's a trip into the relative unknown for the Bangor side, but they know that on their day they can beat anyone.

 

Thanks to Graeme Laird for travelling to umpire..

 

Man of the match- Dave Edwards