Junior League 4 : Bangor 8 v 3 Parkview 2s

FOURTHS REGISTER FIRST WIN OF SEASON
 

Bangor Men's Hockey Club 4ths secured their first points of the season on Saturday when they entertained Parkview 2nds at Ballykillaire.  Even more impressive for the home side was that they fought their way back from a losing position to eventually run out comfortable 8-3 winners in this Corporate Coaching Junior league Four fixture.

Both teams have been rooted to the bottom of the table all season and both teams sensed an opportunity to pick up some much needed points.   The Bangor side for the day had a more experienced look to it and it was essential that full advantage was made of this all too irregular occurance.  The start of the game was delayed somewhat by the over-running cup game earlier that day and Bangor seemed to start sluggishly.  They were caught cold early on by some long ball tactics from the visitors.  Indeed it not take long for a Parkview forward to latch on to one such long ball pass and catch the Bangor defence flat footed and send the visitors in front. 

This seemed to give Bangor the wakeup call they needed and the hosts started to put together some meaningful play down the right side with Ray Parker and McClune linking well to send both Adam Watson and the pacy Stevie Robinson on some promising runs.  Bangor were soon to get the reward for their endeavour as McClune picked up a loose ball in the circle and  
slotted home calmly to level the scores.  From then on, Bangor continued to dominate and picked up a several short corners with Paul McNulty coming close and having an effort cleared off the line. 

McNulty was not to be denied for long though and got his name on the score sheet after some neat interplay with McClune following a short corner.   There was some sporadic resistance from Parkview who managed to get a penalty corner themselves only for Nick Craig in the Bangor goal to keep them at bay.  Again Bangor took the initiative and they did not disappoint as a quick fire double from McClune put them in the driving seat to make it 4-1 at the interval. 


Bangor continued where they left off at the start of the second half with some excellent passing play.  Hamilton, in particular, was imposing himself in midfield, breaking up Parkview possession on several occasions.  The Bangor defence remained solid with both Douglas and Croskery running well down the flanks and feeding the ball into midfield.  Martin and Agnew remained largely untroubled in the middle, dealing with the long ball threat that came their way.
  
The introduction of Dan McNulty from the subs bench was to cause more concern for the Parkview rearguard.  The young and enthusiastic winger was to torment the visitors with some clever link up play and mazy dribbling.  The substitute did not take long to register among the goals, a sublime reverse stick  finish leaving the Parkview custodian little chance.  The promising young forward got in on the act again with another calm finish from a tight angle and it was not long before  he completed his hat trick with another well worked penalty corner.  To their credit Parkview never gave up and were rewarded by two quick fire goals to provide some consolation.  Bangor snuffed out any hope of a Parkview recovery when Adam Watson finished well from close range and getting just reward for a consistent performance throughout.

Final result was 8-3 to Bangor with some encouraging performances throughout the team.  Hopefully this win can spur the team on to pull away from the bottom of the table. If Bangor can maintain a good blend of youth and experience then their survival in Junior Four should be achievable.  Man of the Match Dan McNulty.

 

written by Paul McNulty