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A strong Bangor 4th XI travelled to Shaws Bridge last Saturday to face
an Instonians side just above them in the league. Instonians
themselves arrived with a strong squad, no less than 16 names on the
teamsheet. Bangor's day started poorly and was unfortunately a sign of
things to come. Midfield anchor, Johnny Todd, was ruled out during the
warm up with a damaged elbow and would take no part in the game.
The game started brightly for both sides and the half proved to be an
entertaining one. Both teams enjoyed spells of domainance and fought
resolutely to open the scoring and gain the advantage. Bangor having
withstood some early pressure, began to assert more influence as the
half wore on. Pete Snodden was orchestrating things in the centre of
midfield, ably supported by McCausland and Boyd either side of him.
Scott, playing at the top of the midfield diamond this week, was his
usual bustling self, ruffling a few feathers in the Instonians
defence.
The quality of hockey was evident throughout this half and Bangor
seemed to be getting to grips with the water-based surface without too
many problems. Twice, well worked moves down the left side, followed
by rapid cross field switches, resulted in clear opportunities for
Bangor. Unfortunately McIllhagga and Boyd were unable to take
advantage, both finding the home 'keeper in excellent form. The play
continued in this vein for much of the half with Bangor putting
together some excellent pieces of play. Unfortunately, Bangor were to
suffer another injury during the half when the young right back,
Mottashaw, was forced off with a damaged knee. Instonians, having
been kept at bay most of the half by the Bangor defence - notably
Stubbings and Cook, began to press forward as the first half neared
its end. The pressure was rewarded by the winning of a short corner
which was duly dispatched by an Inst forward after a well worked
switch routine. Bangor could not quite believe they were losing as
they trudged to the dugout for the half time oranges.
Believe it or not, the message from the Bangor half team talk was more
of the same, albeit with perhaps more ruthlessness in front of goal.
In truth though, Bangor were never able to get going in the second
half. A flurry of home substitutions brought more pace and youth to
the home line up and Bangor struggled to find the same rhythm as they
had in the first half. Worse still, after a typically full blooded
challenge in defence, Stubbings was left with a hand injury that meant
he couldn't continue. With all subs used, Bangor were forced to play
the remainder of the half with ten men. With the man advantage, and
plenty of fresh legs, Inst sensed the game was there for the taking
and duly oblidged, scoring twice in quick succession. Despite the odd
foray into the Inst half, Bangor were never able to recover and indeed
had to work hard not to conceed more goals. Final score was 3-0 to
Inst.
Some positives can be taken from the game for Bangor especially with
their first half performance and the battling qualities shown when
playing the majority of the second half with ten men. Bangor have just
been lacking a little bit of luck in the last couple of games so they
will be hoping for a bit of a turnaround next week when they face
Down. Man of the match award was shared between Jonny Boyd and Paul
Scott.
Many thanks to David Shields for umpiring. |