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On Saturday, the 3rds travelled to Newry to face their 3rd XI
counterparts. Again,
several changes were made to the side that beat Mosseley, with G Larmer, M
Campbell,
C Savage, S Parker all returning and M Crawford making his 3XI debut in
goal. In
recent seasons, Newry have always proved to a tough obstacle and the 3rds
had to play
this game on gravel because of problems with the Newry pitch, making the
task even
harder.
The 3rds started the game with intent. They quickly found their rhythm &
suddenly the
pitch wasn’t so much of a problem. Bangor started at a high tempo,
McNaught linking
the play well and the midfield of R Coughlin, R Parker and Campbell
beginning to
dominate. Savage had an opportunity to put Bangor in the lead, but his
shot was well
saved. The Bangor defence of Larmer, Stubbings, McClemend and Douglas were
doing well
and giving little to the Newry forwards, Crawford in goal had little to
do. A Bangor
attack midway through the first half saw Mark Campbell give Bangor the
lead, picking
up a rebound from a Bangor shot. Jonny McNaught scored a second shortly
after to
double Bangor's lead at the break. Bangor were in control, leading 2 nil.
The second half started with Newry trying to up the tempo to get back into
the game.
Bangor defended doggedly, determined to preserve their lead. When Newry
did score, a
Newry forward picked up a rebounded shot after a Crawford save, to make it
2-1,
Bangor immediately rose to the task and in their next attack, McNaught
scored his
second and Bangor’s third. Newry again pegged them back to 3-2 with a
similar effort
to their first, but the Bangor defence offered stern resistance. The
midfield worked
tirelessly and the forwards chased everything that came their way. In the
last 10
minutes, Bangor maintained their composure as Newry threw everything at
them,
searching for an equaliser. Bangor held out to the end and emerged as
worthly
winners, notching up their second successive win. There were a lot of good
performances, McClemend, Stubbings and Larmer in defence, Ramy Parker in
midfield and
McNaught up front, but A Douglas took the man of the match vote. This was
a big win
for Bangor, as many teams will go to Newry and return with nothing. Points
such as
these are vital as they chase local rivals Civil Service 2nds, who lead
Junior 2.
Bangor will need to up their efforts again this Saturday as they host
Cookstown in
what should be a game for the purists at Ballykilliare, but with their
gravel play as
good as it was in Newry, perhaps they might play them at Ballymac!
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