As the previous season for both the men’s and women’s teams was put into the archives of Bangor’s history, a new campaign dawned that would present fresh opportunities to achieve the current ultimate objective of promotion to the Championship a return to senior football.
Between the arrival and flash impact of a goal-getting striker supremo from Ballynahinch, some upbeat streaks in form and progression on a handful of different fronts this first half of the 2022/23 term, a cherry on top was to come on one particularly memorable Christmas Eve decider. It has proved a means to go on so far, but can the Seasiders keep it up?
September
A busy September saw five matches fought across four different fronts. The month started and ended with Premier Intermediate League bouts, firstly at home to Dollingstown – a 3-0 victory, courtesy of Ben Arthurs’ brace either side of Jamie Glover’s first-half strike – and a 1-1 draw with newly-promoted Ballymacash Rangers.
The latter fixture saw a rapid introduction for Bangor supporters to their latest acquisition. While delayed, confirmation of striker Adam Neale’s arrival came in advance of the Seasiders’ visit to The Bluebell, and the star of an Amateur League-winning Rathfriland side made an immediate impression in the form of a 94th-minute equaliser in west Lisburn.
In between, the Yellows pushed Cliftonville all the way in the County Antrim Shield, but just fell short in the penalty shootout after a goalless draw in 90 minutes at Clandeboye Park. A proud performance, in spite of a disappointing end result when it came to spot-kicks.
Thereafter, an unglamorous 0-4 loss at home to Annagh United in the League Cup first round followed, before things were put right in the form of a 4-0 victory over north west side Strabane Athletic in the Irish Cup second round.
Tom Mathieson bagged his first goal for the club, Jordan Hughes his first of the season while Arthurs and Scott McArthur also netted to complete the job in the second half. The downside, in some ways, was that while Neale – the 29-year-old elder brother of Reece, and who had guested for the club in the pre-season friendly defeat to Glenavon – had arrived, he was cup-tied and could not feature in an Irish Cup context.
October
The Steel and Sons Cup third round, postponed until the first week in October owing initially to the death of Her Majesty The Queen, was to yield further progress for Bangor, as Ben Arthurs and Adam Neale struck in the second half to secure a 0-2 win at Glen Road Heights.
There were two more home third-tier outings against outfits at the wrong end of the table, but Bangor took no liberties in securing maximum spoils.
First came a 5-0 success over Armagh City – fighting by the foot five months on from only just missing out on the play-off in May – and then a 2-0 win over PSNI for six points from six.
Against the Eagles, both Neale brothers contrived to contribute three goals in a 13-minute span, with Adam striking his first double in his new colours and Reece – who set up his first – converting in between. Jamie Glover kept his hot streak up after breaking the deadlock, while David Hume netted his first of the season to double the advantage prior to the two siblings rounding off the rout.
Adam Neale and Arthurs came up trumps in a rain-drenched Clandeboye Park against the Police. It took until the hour to break down a stern defensive block, but Neale struck a piledriver first before Arthurs capitalised on a loose parry five minutes from time to convert from close for two.
The Intermediate Cup first round almost saw Bangor come unstuck at Albert Foundry, but a veteran campaigner emerged when it counted to avert an upset.
43 years young, Michael Halliday was introduced as an early substitute after Jordan Hughes was forced off with injury. In the third minute of added time, he headed home at Paisley Park to cut Foundry’s 1-0 lead and force extra time at the last. Halliday duly converted in the eighth minute of the additional 20-minute period to avert an upset in west Belfast.
While progression in that competition had been secured in an albeit stressful manner, it was not so nervy at Ashfield the following week when both Neale brothers and Arthurs netted to put Bangor in the Steel and Sons Cup quarter-finals at Glentoran II’s expense.
November
The good times continued to roll – save for one blip – for the Yellows, with autumn about to transition into winter.
Said blip was a second-round elimination from the Intermediate Cup at the hands of a team already bested earlier in the season. While Strabane Athletic fell 4-0 last time, they forced penalties here and prevailed following a 1-1 draw after extra time – former Coleraine favourite and Northern Ireland international Rory Patterson equalising after Adam Neale had broke the deadlock on the stroke of the hour – to cause an upset.
Before and after that third match of five this month, however, it was flawless in a full set of cup extravaganzas.
Belfast Celtic were first to fall, a match postponed (like the Steel encounter) a week due to a waterlogged pitch in the Irish Cup third round, and Albert Foundry were downed in slightly more routine fashion than last time to secure a semi-final berth in the Steel and Sons.
Scott McArthur, Seanna Foster and Gareth Beattie finishes meant that the damage was done by half time against Celtic, while Adam Neale’s second-half hat-trick at Foundry – also marked by a moment of controversy and confusion when the referee awarded the hosts a goal that never looked close to crossing the line – proved pivotal too.
And that Steel last-four encounter 10 days later was to prove one hell of a night. Jamie Glover’s 76th-minute curler was enough to seal a spot in the festive showpiece, seeing off new boys Ballymacash Rangers by that solitary goal to nil.
And an all-round sublime week was rounded off by a 1-2 success at the Limavady Showgrounds, where Michael Halliday and David Hume each headed home in an all-third-tier tie to book Bangor some Irish Cup football in the new year at Limavady United’s expense.
December
Much of the final month of the year was dogged by frozen pitches and air chills, however Bangor’s schedule remained mostly intact.
First up was a trip to Queen’s University, where a nerve-wracking 1-2 win was sealed at The Dub thanks to first-half finishes from Adam Neale and Michael Halliday. A 70th-minute deficit-cutter set tensions rumbling, and a last-ditch woodwork strike from a free kick in the seventh minute of added time really created an aura of relief around the south Belfast venue.
A trip to Portstewart the following week resulted in the same scoreline, with line-leader Neale’s hot start to life for the club continuing in the form of two strikes each way of a defensive mix-up that brought the Seahawks their leveller.
Following that much-desired success at Mullaghacall was a home tie – they had been at a dearth of late, just the fourth in 12 weeks – against Banbridge Town. It was not one that would reach a full finish, though, since the match was abandoned after 50 minutes with no score on the board as areas of Clandeboye Park’s artificial surface started to re-freeze.
Full focus could then be placed into the Steel and Sons Cup final, the first Bangor had been involved in for 11 years. The final game of the year, and a chance to cement a status as heroes.
Dunmurry Rec posed the opposition in the most significant game the club had contested in years. A chance at silverware, a chance with a date with destiny, a chance to book a place in history. And, despite the nerves, a 2-1 victory courtesy of injury returnee Ben Arthurs and Adam Neale – turning over a one-goal deficit created early in the second half – meant that the year could not have closed in a better way.
Confirmation of the return of the Steel Cup back to Bangor was greeted with a cheer on full time. For many of these players, it was the biggest day in their lives; for all in attendance, it turned out a day etched in their minds forever.
New challenges await in 2023, but 2022, for having some agonising troughs, brought as many peaks and more.
The play-off defeat to ‘Breda was a blow, and some heavy defeats in the first half of the year were harsh lessons that would need to be recovered from. That said, the start to 2022/23 has provided much encouragement that there is still much to come in the second half of the campaign. Memories to last a lifetime came in the form of the events of Christmas Eve and a platform for momentum to be based from has been established.
Featured image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through a Lens NI.
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