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On Saturday past, Bangor entertained Junior 2 League leaders
Cookstown 3rd XI at Ballykillaire. Once again Bangor had a much changed
line up, welcoming back McCausland & Boyd, and including Ryan Elliot in
the squad for his first game of the season. Despite the changes,
Bangor started the game enthusiastically. The early stages was a tense
battle, both sides working hard not to let the other take control of the
game. The game was even with both sides having pressure, but not really
creating a real chance.
Bangor full backs Douglas & Larmer were dealing with the wingers well and
Parker, Boyd and McCausland were linking well in midfield. Up front,
McNaught, Parker and Walker were trying to find space against a defence
with one of the best records in the league. Despite Bangor's best
efforts, Cookstown took the lead. The shot was struck well from the edge
of the circle, through a crowd of players, and may also have taken a
deflection to go past Irvine in the Bangor goal. For the rest of the first
half, Bangor and Cookstown continued to try to play open, expansive
hockey, but the score remind the same. 0-1 at Half time.
In the second half, Bangor knew the unbeaten leaders were going to try to
push on and score several more to continue their great run. Bangor, also
wanting to preserve their own winning streak, knew that they had to keep
going and try to create chances. As the half went on, Cookstown
began to overpower the Bangor team and created several chances.
Irvine and the defence held firm to keep the score at 0-1. With Cookstown
having the majority of the play, Bangor were limited to counter attacking
and when this was done with pace and determination, several short corners
were won. Unfortunately, the third's corner routine was somewhat
disjointed on the day, and as a result, no short corners were to pay
dividends. With Bangor carrying little threat, it was Cookstown who
began to take more and more advantage of tiring Bangor legs. The
visitors continued to make chances, and importantly, made far fewer
mistakes then Bangor. A second goal for Cookstown eventually came
with 10 minutes left. The visiting attack took advantage of some weak
tackling in the Bangor defence, to make the game safe. The game ended 2-0
to the visitors, despite a late rally from Bangor.
All in all, Bangor can take some heart from a battling
performance against the league leaders, but the team will need to get back
on track quickly as they face another tough encounter next week, away at
Harlequins 2nds.
Thanks to Timmy Campbell for umpiring. |