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The 3rds travelled to Stormont for the match against Civil Service 3rds on
Friday night. They had beaten their opponents in the reverse fixture in
Bangor, but with the onset of the festive season, were significantly
weakened with no less than 5 players missing. In came Ricky Parker, Cook,
McClemend, and debutant Mottashaw, with Watson and Dorman joining the
squad on the bench. The young team knew that this would be a difficult
match, but maintained high hopes of securing a result.
The game started with Bangor happy to defend and play on the counter
attack, although most of the early play was concentrated in the middle
third of the pitch. Bangors’ midfield of Ray Parker, McCausland, Reid and
McClemend worked tirelessly trying to stifle any attacks by the home side.
The defence of M Coughlin, Larmer, Cook and Mottashaw, with Crawford in
goal, were well organised, starving the Service forwards of any space to
forge a chance on goal. As the half progressed, Bangor came more into the
game. The midfield quartet began picking out the runs of forward duo,
Robin Coughlin and Ricky Parker, with increased regularity. With the game
evenly balanced, Bangor won a short corner, after another counter attack.
Larmer’s push out to McClemend was accurate, who stopped for 15 year old
debutant James Mottashaw to deliver his drag flick into the bottom left
corner. With Bangor leading, Service tried to push forward in search of an
equaliser. On numerous occasions, they tried to advance down the right
wing only to find a stubborn obstacle in Cook.
The game again slipped into a midfield battle with Ray Parker at the
forefront. The entire midfield though, made life difficult for Service,
tackling and intercepting passes before launching counter attacks. Indeed,
such was Bangor’s ability to stop the opponents, Crawford in the Bangor
goal only had one chance to save in the first half. When a Service forward
did find himself free at the top of the circle, by the time he had turned
and hit the ball, Crawford had charged off his line to make a smart save.
As the half time whistle blew, Bangor still found themselves a goal to the
good..
The second half began as the first had ended with the midfield of both
teams largely cancelling each other out. Service did manage to create a
number of chances and won several short corners, and after a mix up in the
Bangor midfield, the ball found its way to a Service forward 5 yards out,
who made no mistake to level.
Bangor were shell shocked and Service capitalised by quickly scoring a
second. The home forward seemed to have an eternity at the top of the
circle, as Bangor’s defence went missing, and placed his shot into the
bottom corner. After working so hard to preserve their lead, Bangor now
found themselves chasing the game. They tried to pass themselves back into
the game, but too many unforced errors prevented them from applying any
real sustained pressure.
With Bangor running themselves into the ground and Service defending well,
it seemed like their best way back into the game would be another set
piece. When they won their second short corner with 10 minutes left,
Mottashaw stepped up. The resultant drag flick cannoned of a Service
defender’s stick on the line, against the bar and into the net. At 2
apiece, the final 10 minutes were nervous for both sides. Service won
several more short corners, but the Bangor defence dealt with them without
undue difficulty, and neither side had a chance to score the winner.
The game finished 2-2, and on the whole, was probably a fair result. The
game was played in good spirits, and at times, produced some excellent
hockey from both sides. Next Saturday, Bangor 3rds return to more familiar
territory at Ballykillaire after a month of away fixtures. The opponents
are Antrim 2s, who beat Bangor 5-0 in the corresponding fixture earlier
this season. It should be different this time, as the 3rds are in form and
prove to be very difficult to play against at home. Although no man of the
match vote was taken, there were several candidates. Ray Parker in
midfield, Crawford in goal and James Mottashaw in defence all played
superbly, although Mottashaw probably edged it with his double on his
debut.
Many thanks to Bill Clarke for umpiring. |