|
On Saturday, Bangor 3rds entertained Newry 3rds at Ballykillaire.
With the pitch having recovered from the snow, the match was started a few
minutes late. Bangor were missing 2 players from their impressive win the
previous week at Mossley, with McNaught and McAllister unavailable. More
than able replacements, Johnny Boyd and Ricky Parker, took their places in
the squad.
As the game got underway, Bangor knew that it
would be a lot harder than their reverse fixture with Newry having a very
strong side out. The game was even early on, with both sets of midfields
cancelling each other out. Bangor's midfield of Parker, McCausland, Boyd
and Campbell worked tirelessly for the cause, breaking up many Newry
attacks before they started. The
Bangor defence of Coughlin, McClemend, Larmer and Douglas were dealt with
everything that came their way.
As the half progressed, both sides began to create
numerous half chances. The Newry frontline tried to pass their way
through, but the Bangor defence held firm and keeper Crawford dealt
comfortably with the visitor's attacking forays. . Bangor themselves,
created some very good chances, thanks largely to good movement from the
forwards Coughlin and McIllhagga. When Boyd pushed forward from midfield
the home side looked even more dangerous. This was largely the
pattern for the remainder of the half - no goals but an evenly
contested game.
The second half saw Bangor improve on what was an already good
performance. The movement and passing game they played stretched Newry and
limited them to counter attacks. The visitors weathered the storm
though, and to their credit, continued
to create chances of their own but Crawford, in the Bangor goal, made some
excellent saves. From a Newry penalty corner, Bangor launched a
swift counter attack and when Coughlin crossed and found Boyd, the
midfielder seemed certain to score. Unfortunately, the shot was
deflected onto a Newry defender on the line. The penalty flick appeal was
turned down and Bangor's short corner routine faltered, and the chance was
gone.
Newry had a great opportunity to open the scoring themselves but the
visiting forward missed an open goal from three yards after beating
creating the chance himself by beating three players. The deadlock
was finally broken when the visitors scored from a well worked short
corner routine. Stung by this setback, the home side pushed forward
searching for the equaliser. A number of gilt edged chances were
created and all were spurned, until one goal bound effort was stopped on
the line by a Newry defender's foot and a penalty flick was awarded.
McClemend stepped up for Bangor and successfully restored parity.
Both sides seemed to settle for a draw after this and the game petered out
with the sides on level terms.
Many thanks to T Campbell and G Laird for umpiring.
|