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The Sixths hosted Instonians 5ths on Saturday past as the Junior 6
league campaign continued. The team hoped to continue their recent run
of good form and build upon a hard earned away point at Mossley in the
previous week.
The first half was a closely fought contest with both teams battling
to secure and capitalise on possession. Instonians enjoyed a greater
share of the play during the opening quarter with their midfield and
forward line exerting sustained pressure on Bangor's defensive line up
of George Blackwood, Brian McKee, Rory McMillan, Duncan Morris and
'keeper Andrew Patterson. Repeated attacking moves down both flanks
resulted in several close chances but due a combination of poor
finishing and some resolute tackling by the home side, the visitors
were unable to convert possession into goals. As the half progressed,
Bangor began to find more space and the midfield trio of Peter
Hamilton, Jonny Connor, and Nathan Booth were able to kickstart a
number of attacking moves. This in turn enabled the forward line of
Rory Porter, Phil Campbell, and Richard Taylor to test the opposition
defence. Like their counterparts from earlier in the half, Bangor also
created several good chances from attacking moves down both flanks in
quick succession on 17 and 20 minutes. On both occasions the ball
found Phil Campbell around the flick spot who in turn forced good
saves from the onrushing Inst 'keeper. The introduction of Mark
Douglas added further impetus to the Bangor attack, but Instonians
finished the half the stronger team with a number of penalty corners.
But Bangor's defence stood firm, aided by several superb saves by Andy
Patterson and the score remained goalless at half-time.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with the
visitors enjoying a greater share of possession during the opening 10
minutes. Again they created a number of good opportunities but were
unable to breach the Bangor defence. As the half progressed however,
the home side saw a steadily increasing amount of possession as the
opposition tired but were also unable to convert any chances. A well
worked penalty corner move on 48 minutes almost proved successful for
the home team but again the Inst 'keeper was equal to the task. The
game ebbed and flowed with both sides trying to secure the points. As
the final quarter commenced the visitors were pushing forward in
search of a winner limiting Bangor to counter-attacking moves. But the
breakthrough came with 6 minutes to go. Inst were awarded a penalty
corner, and Bangor defence managed to interrupt the move passing down
the right channel to Nathan Booth. Bangor broke quickly in superior
numbers. Nathan's pass found Rory Porter in the left channel on the
25, who in turn crashed the ball into the circle where Captain Richard
Taylor managed to evade his marker and divert the ball past the
on-rushing 'keeper into the bottom right corner of the goal. This
again spurred the visitors into action, who threw caution to the wind
in search of an equalizing goal. As the half came to a dramatic
conclusion, Instonians forward line continued to misfire with several
further missed opportunities including a parried shot onto the post.
However, thanks to an exceptional defensive effort Bangor held out to
win the game.
Another fantastic team performance by everyone involved and another 2
points will be very welcome in the league campaign. Many thanks to
David Shields for umpiring and to everyone who turned out to support
the team. |