Bangor Mens Hockey Club seconds entertained Raphoe seconds in a pulsating Irish Junior Cup fixture last Saturday afternoon at the Sportsplex.  This cup tie had everything from great goals, superb goalkeeping and end to end hockey as both teams sought a place in the last 16 of this blue riband competition.  It was no surprise that the teams could not be separated after normal time, and then extra time, and then after 5 penalty flicks apiece.  So it was down to sudden death penalty flicks, and that’s when James Trimble and Robin Thompson emerged the heroes for the Bangor side as they secured their team a place in the next round of the competition, and a long trip south to Cork to take on Bandon seconds early in the New Year. 
 

On to the action itself, and this match ebbed and flowed from the first whistle.  The visitors took the lead when they pounced on hesitancy in the Bangor defence with less than 10 minutes on the clock, Nigel Woods finishing off a nice move for the Raphoe side. The home side did have enough possession in the opening periods, but were failing to find that final pass in the final third.  However they got their equaliser just before the break when Dave Edwards released Jonny McNaught on the right side of the circle.  McNaught did not even take control of the ball, he simply smashed first time past the hapless Raphoe goalie to make it 1-1. 
 

With seconds team manager making a couple of positional changes at the half time interval the Bangor side came out for the second half in the ascendancy.  Short corners were won, more clear opportunities were created the best of which fell to Gareth Stranaghan and Dave Edwards but the young Raphoe custodian saved well.  To be fair, Raphoe were creating chances of their own but Robin Thompson was also in fine form in the Bangor goals.  He was also assisted by some fine defending from both Andrew and Phil McCausland, the latter a different player when he has his sidekick Allen Irwin alongside, whilst young Ryan Tate was steady at left back. 
 

It was still deadlock at full time, so it was onto extra time.  However, as is the norm with many matches that go into added time, there were few opportunities.  The closest there was to a goal was probably right on the whistle when the Raphoe skipper flashed a high effort inches past Thompson’s right hand post. 
 

So it was onto the flicks and it was 3-3 after the regulation 5 flicks, James Trimble, Ryan Tate and Connor Savage on target for the seconds.  Trimble stepped forward again in sudden death, and despatched confidently once again.  Then it was that man Robin Thompson into the spotlight, and he didn’t disappoint as he thwarted the Raphoe effort with a fine save low to his right to the delight of his team mates. 
 

All in all it was a valiant effort from the seconds after the horror show the previous Saturday.  The team all worked really hard for the victory, rode their luck a little at times, but now can look forward to a trip to Cork in the next round as their first competitive fixture in 2010.  The player of the match was a close call between Robin Thompson, and the faultless Phil McCausland.  This weekend its back to league action and a difficult assignment at home against Instonians seconds. 
 

Many thanks to Les Allen and Gareth Herron for umpiring duties.

 

Written by Gareth Stranaghan