The months of May to August were eventful ones. From the agony of missing out on promotion to the hive of activity that is the summer transfer window bringing some more popular players into the fold, with the Ladies also having the bulk of their campaign run through these months en route to an eventual solid placing in the league standings.
In preparation for the second half of the year, several positive steps were made to build the frameworks for the final four months in the men’s action, not mentioning the advancement of the Girls Academy in the women’s sector that has already proved a successful venture.
May
Despite recent poor results, Bangor’s fate in regards to securing a promotion play-off spot remained very much in their own hands.
There were two games upcoming. Banbridge Town away, Armagh City at home. Win both of those and 2nd-place would be all but secure.
And true to form, the team picked up as hoped. Despite a pre-split double defeat to the Town, the Seasiders took home a 0-2 victory courtesy of strikes by David Hume and Michael Halliday which set up the final showdown.
As far as tense occasions go, 1-1 with five minutes to go in a winner-takes-all battle must be right up there.
In a packed Clandeboye Park, it was a time for a big player to step up in a big moment, and after Jack Upritchard’s delectable curled effort arrowed into the top corner had been cancelled out by Armagh City’s Stefan Lavery, a late brace by Ben Arthurs booked a 3-1 victory and a play-off place.
The battle for a Championship place – preservation on one end, promotion on the other – would be against east Belfast outfit Knockbreda.
And if that success over the Eagles was a late show, words to describe what happened at Clandeboye Park have not even been invented yet.
Going into additional time 0-2 down, in the fourth minute post the turn of 90, the ground was sent into raptures thanks to Arthurs’ well-placed header that reduced the deficit to one. Something to cling to, something to build from. Only a minute later, however, the loudest cheer heard all season was to come as Zac Fletcher delivered another last-ditch header – pouncing after Kircubbin hero Arthurs hit the post – to even it back up at 2-2.
Sadly, the return at Breda Park proved a harder outing to take. The first half saw the visiting Seasiders repeatedly pepper the opposition goal without finding that killer final blow, and when the hosts converted a quick-fire double at the start of the second half, it seemed to knock the stuffing out of those in yellow and blue as ‘Breda took home a 2-0 (4-2 aggregate) win.
An agonising miss on second-tier promotion, but a chance to plan and build back stronger for the new season.
The Ladies season was continuing to build up a head of steam, with winning results secured in the aftermath of that opening defeat at Holm Park at the end of April. The Seasiders thrashed Portadown 6-0 at Clandeboye Park where four different players marked the scoresheet, with further victories following against Belfast Celtic (1-3) in the league and Belfast Ravens (3-1) in the PWC Super Cup prior to a loss at home to Lisburn Rangers back in league action.
The month was to end on a high for Mark Duff’s outfit, however, following a 6-0 Super Cup hammering of Crewe United and progression on that stage. This perhaps saw the best individual performance of the season, as Leah Robinson bagged four to take home the match ball.
June
For the men’s team, the month of June started with the end-of-season awards. Club captain Lewis Harrison bagged the Manager’s Player of the Year Award, while vice-skipper Reece Neale was in receipt of both the Players’ and Directors’ Player of the Year awards. Harrison also earned the Directors’ Young Player of the Year, while Ben Arthurs once more racked home the award for Top Goalscorer for the season with 19 overall.
Neale claimed the Drew Kelly Memorial Trophy, while the Reserves awards were handed out to Tim Millar-Wilson as Manager’s Player of the Year, Callum Mills as Players’ Player of the Year and Finn Moffett as the Top Goalscorer.
No sooner were the awards out of the way than the Seasiders had started making moves in the transfer market.
Ryan Arthur returned after his Championship sojourn with the Comrades, while one coup was followed by another in the form of experienced shot-stopper James Taylor, who arrived having spent a good portion of 2021/22 as the first choice between Premiership outfit Glenavon’s sticks.
Midfielder Aaron Harris joined the group having captained Lisburn Distillery, while ball-playing centre back Ryley D’Sena followed in the footsteps of his fellow countryman and teenager Nick Aretzis in joining Bangor from Larne – on a full-season basis, this time.
Several fan favourites of recent years and glory days also departed in the off-season. The industrious Fletcher was among a camp of players to part company having helped the Yellows up from the Ballymena League, including Mark Cooling (Bangor Amateurs) and Jack Wasson (Crewe United). Upritchard joined Cooling at the Ams next door, while young goalkeeper Matty Anderson (Ards Rangers) also made a move away from the club.
It was an early start to the men’s pre-season, with the Seasiders defeating east Belfast-based Amateur League Division 1A outfit Sirocco Works 4-0 in the first of nine fixtures building up to 2022/23.
That said, while they had much of June to think about the tests that lay ahead, the Ladies were all systems go with six matches this month.
Crewe United had their vengeance following their Cup elimination in the form of a 4-2 league victory at Crewe Park, and it was to start a sixth month of the year that would have its peaks and troughs.
The Yellows defeated Portadown 0-7 in the following fixture that confirmed a place in the next round of the League Cup, before a home loss to Ballyclare Comrades preceded a 4-2 defeat away to Antrim Rovers in the Challenge Cup.
Then came a 3-0 victory against Armagh City at Clandeboye Park, with this sixth month of the year closing out with an agonising 4-2 defeat after extra time against Kilmore Rec in the Super Cup. In the most fixture-heavy month of the Ladies season, there had been some disappointments, but equally positivity to be had in the form of those two big wins.
July
The new kit launch saw Ethan Boylan – who would be staying with Bangor after returning from almost a full year on the sidelines – and Jordan Hughes put front and centre, with the fresh strip set to first be donned against Glenavon in the 19th July pre-season outing.
Meanwhile, in the second game of pre-season, Boylan netted in a 2-1 defeat away to Lisburn Rangers at Stanley Park, while the next clash – a tussle with Annagh United in Newcastle, as much arranged with team-bonding in mind as the actual match – ended in a 2-0 loss.
In that match-up with the Mourneview Aces, a ten-goal thriller was yielded with Glenavon edging out 3-7 victors at Clandeboye Park.
The exciting Scott McArthur was in attendance, and the former Stirling University attacker’s return to the North Down unit’s panel was confirmed shortly after. He had helped Bangor to third-tier promotion as a prodigious 19-year-old in 2019, and was back to assist the Clandeboye club’s plight of another step-up for the following season.
Fixtures that followed for the rest of the month of July were a 0-4 victory over Lee Feeney’s former club Banbridge Rangers at Cheney Park, a 4-0 loss away to Premiership runners-up Cliftonville and a goalless draw with second-tier side Dundela at Clandeboye Park. Goalkeeper Marc Orbinson, on trial during the outing against the Reds at Solitude and turning heads with a few alert saves, was secured on a permanent deal shortly after.
Meanwhile, Bangor chairman Graham Bailie laid out the club’s vision going forward in a statement.
He said: “Sustainability at Bangor FC is key to our success as we progress forward. That is why we are leading the way with the decarbonisation of the club. We recently finished phase one in this journey, with the installation of a thermodynamic system for our hot water supply. Not only does this system reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide, but it also supports a long-term reduction on energy costs.
“We are now planning on phase two and three of our strategy which will include solar battery storage and electric vehicle charging points. This will put us in control of generating our own energy and having the ability to use it when it’s needed. This is especially useful for managing energy around our floodlights. The electric vehicle charging points will provide our local community, supporters and players have access to charging solutions, which is a problem area for electric vehicle owners around Northern Ireland.”
The club was saddened to learn in this month of the passing of popular President Billy Palmer. One known across a wide variety of generations of Bangor supporters, Billy’s kindness and warmth touched everyone involved within the setup and the anecdotes shared were reflective of his welcoming personality
Also, the Ladies kicked on in league action with two more matches, where they were firstly defeated at home to Ballyclare before claiming the victory spoils on the road against Portadown.
A League Cup run was to end at the semi-final stage, falling at that hurdle to a resolute Lisburn Rangers outfit. It was also a month where two Bangorians, Rebecca McKenna and Ashley Hutton, thrived on the international stage with Northern Ireland in the nation’s first-ever international women’s tournament, and with one of the club’s own in Jessica Hammond conducting the official Northern Ireland anthem for the competition.
August
The eighth month of the year began with a 3-0 defeat in the annual Spectator and Chronicle Cup against Ards, while the final pre-season fixture came in the form of a loss by the same scoreline to Larne prior to the competitive action getting back under way.
Meanwhile, a couple more new arrivals were confirmed ahead of the new season. Both Ross Craig and Ally Ferguson had prior Bangor connections as youngsters, and both had been eye-catching during their time spent just beforehand in the Amateur League, with Craig previously of Bryansburn Rangers and Ferguson last with Donaghadee.
Young midfielders Bradley Lyttle (21) and CJ Sullivan (19) were each signed and sealed ahead of the new term, Sullivan captaining Glenavon’s Under-20s with distinction while Lyttle plied his trade with Ballymena United.
An awaited return to competitive action for the men restarted on the front foot, with Ben Arthurs and Karl Devine on target in the first half against Queen’s University in the Irish Cup first round on the 13th August.
In the second round of the Steel and Sons Cup, having received a first-stage bye, the Seasiders were in extremely clinical mood as they defeated Greenisland 0-8 at Glenkeen Avenue in their heaviest win of the year. Dylan O’Kane and Reece Neale netted twice while Ben Arthurs, Scott McArthur, Ferguson and Jamie Glover also delivered drives into the net.
A thumping 5-0 victory over Lisburn Distillery – all five goals scored in a rip-roaring first half, with Glover and Ryan Arthur each netting braces – kicked off the Premier Intermediate League charge in style, marking the second time in succession that Bangor had found themselves five unanswered goals to the good at the break. A 0-1 success courtesy of Arthurs’ early penalty then earned the club a second win from two away to Limavady United.
More business was done in the market, with 36-year-old centre back John Boyle joining from Newry City, while local talent Tom Mathieson’s signature from Dundela was to precede Cliftonville right back Seanna Foster’s deadline day arrival on a season-long loan.
The club was saddened to learn that the legendary Terry Neill, a distinctively connected figure to Bangor, had passed away. The former Tottenham and Arsenal chief, an FA Cup winner with the latter, solidified himself as an important figure in Northern Irish football and was in attendance at the Yellows’ Centenary celebrations in 2018. He remains sadly missed.
Meanwhile, the Bangor Ladies season closed out with 3rd-place still on the line, but it was not quite to be in the end.
A 3-3 draw with Crewe United on the final day followed a 1-1 draw with Belfast Celtic – who ultimately did seal that podium placing – and a defeat to unsurprising Division One champions Lisburn Rangers. The balance of play tended to favour the Seasiders on a damp mid-August night against Crewe, but the visitors were clinical with the chances they had.
Nevertheless, with a new plan and a new project, you could hardly knock that it had been a very successful crusade. That plan has since continued to expand with the establishment and growth of the Girls Academy, trialled in September to attract girls aged between five and 11 to join with a view to developing their skills both as players and as people, which has prospered come the close of 2022.
Featured image from Sarah Harkness.
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