On the sounding of the final peeps of the referee’s whistle, the Bangor players knew that they had added three of their hardest-fought points of the season to their tally. In brutally unforgiving conditions, the hosts rallied to see out a narrow victory over a highly competitive Moyola Park outfit in the first of two meetings the sides will have in the space of a fortnight.
A solitary strike on the stroke of the half-hour did the trick, with an eighth win in succession added to the books and one of three games in hand on league leaders Ballymacash Rangers taken full advantage of. The Yellows cut the margin at the top of the table back to only one point, as a streak of four league fixtures in a 14-day span starts on the front foot as aspired.
The weather was assuredly not smiling on the seaside. Nor was it anywhere else, in all fairness.
A frigid cold, a fierce wind, a fresh downpour. A triad that leaves any footballer high in their hopes of claiming full spoils before heating their feet by the fire.
Doing battle with the elements while duelling on the pitch always adds flavour to proceedings. Small wonder, then, that in peak winter, clubs across the Irish League have seen illness wreak havoc in recent weeks.
Fortunately, in the Bangor lineup on Saturday afternoon, only club captain Lewis Harrison had been hit by the bug sufficiently severely that he would be forced to miss out. Jamie Glover, who missed the Seasiders’ first two outings of 2023, was match-fit once more and assumed a place on the bench after he, too, suffered from a bout of sickness.
Lee Feeney opted to make a handful of switches from the previous week’s 4-0 defeat of Tandragee Rovers in the Irish Cup.
The experienced James Taylor returned in goals after Marc Orbinson earned a run-out against the Co Armagh outfit and added a 16th clean sheet to the kitty, while Gareth Beattie – captain for the day – made his first start in eight weeks in place of Reece Neale, who made a rare drop to the bench. Ryley D’Sena would be sat alongside the Ballynahinch favourite, as Ryan Arthur was reprised to the fold in place of the Australian centre back.
Harrison’s absence meant birthday boy Dylan O’Kane and Karl Devine would play together as a pair in midfield, while Scott McArthur was rewarded for his goal as a substitute in the prior fifth-stage match-up with a starting role in the pocket here. Adam Neale, cup-tied for that Rovers clash, re-entered for Jordan Hughes.
Moyola’s big-hitters were all involved. Former Coleraine ace Ian Parkhill, ex-Glentoran midfielder Samuel McIlveen, physical line-leader Mark Kelly and the tricky Mark Edgar each featured from the start as Stephen Hughes laid his troops out to bring a second win in a row back home.
It was Kelly who got the game under way, as Niall Devlin – the man in the middle for the second Bangor PIL matchday in a row – signalled for play to start slightly early at 2:59pm.
And it took a while to get going. On 13 minutes, the hosts had their first sniff at goal when Ben Arthurs, uncharacteristically drifted out to the inside-right, drilled in a devilish delivery across the goal-face. It was marginally out of reach of Neale in the centre, while Beattie’s cut-back could only find the side netting as he tried to keep the danger alive.
27 minutes had passed before Park shot-stopper Andrew Findlay was truly tested – but it was hardly a routine assignment.
O’Kane, who turned 25 on Saturday, lashed a 40-yard piledriver towards the top right, a shot that dipped and swerved as he sought to gift-wrap the Seagulls a stunning opener, though Findlay was at full stretch to tip around the post.
A commendable stop for which the goalkeeper had to use his maximum expanse, but it nonetheless served as an inspiration of confidence that Bangor were building up to something.
Just two minutes later, that hypothesis was proven right. This time it was local lad McArthur to be slipped in, receiving in stride and bearing down on Findlay, and although the man with the gloves was again equal to the effort he was faced with, he could only parry the ball into the path of Neale who wasn’t to be denied.
The line-leader was on target from close range, heading home his 16th goal in yellow and blue that puts him back on joint-top of the scoring charts. Continuing to sting Irish League defences as he did Amateur League backlines, his revelatory surge shows no sign of letting up.
Now the Seasiders would try to build on their lead. Albeit, where it was dry when the deadlock was broken, it soon very much wasn’t.
On 38 minutes, Moyola had their best opportunity of the half. A switch-off in defence allowed Edgar – who scored his last goal on Tuesday night, when the club from Castledawson claimed complete spoils over Banbridge Town – a good look at goal, but the former Portstewart man could not replicate his killer instinct four days prior as he placed wide of the net.
And a couple of minutes later, the upright was left shaking up the other way. A distance drive from Beattie took a wicked deflection that caused it to come back off the crossbar, while Findlay, having moved to cover his bases, was alert to retake his position and make a big stop when Neale got to the rebound first.
Following two minutes of additional time, Devlin sounded his whistle for the interval.
It presented a chance to run things over for Feeney and his opposite number Hughes, devising new plans to achieve their respective in-game objectives of retaining the lead and trying to peg it back.
Both sides re-entered with unchanged starting panels, albeit where the teams had not been tinkered with, the rising chills we are accustomed to seeing in these winter kick-offs had reared up once more as the sun set over the horizon.
That cocktail of cold, wind and rain set up an unpredictable second period where the game never felt truly settled.
If the first half took time to get up to speed, both sides had flown out of the blocks on the other side of the break.
On 47 minutes, Moyola laid down the first warning shot of what would prove somewhat of a siege over the next half-hour. Caolan Gillan’s well-meaning punt from 25 yards was struck with power and placement, but Taylor was unflustered as he dropped to parry away despite the gusts putting a bit more swerve on the ball while the 38-year-old dropped down.
“It was (a battle out there)”
Lee Feeney
The Mill Meadow institution looked sharp out of the traps, and appeared to have set up to apply more pressure on the oft-composed John Boyle. The 36-year-old from Warrenpoint would have Parkhill’s presence to contend with, as the mercurial former League Cup and Irish Cup-winning Bannsider drove at the ex-Newry City stalwart any time he could.
After a 49th-minute near-miss for Bangor when Neale was pipped to the post from a corner by one of the riversiders’ rear-guard, Hughes’ charges again put their opposite shot-stopper on alert with 63 minutes of the match played.
Perhaps not a shock that it emerged from the left, given the position of star man Parkhill. A left-sided cut-back was put in the area, and a mixture of Taylor’s palms and some alert cover defending from Arthur and David Hume denied Edgar on his second crack of the whip.
The second stanza was tetchier, too. It came to a head when some handbags from a Moyola dead-ball compelled referee Devlin to book Parkhill for an adjudged shove on Hume with 67 minutes gone.
The closest that Bangor got to a second goal was on 74 minutes, by which time Glover had been introduced for his first minutes of the year. The 21-year-old dribbled with the ball after receiving from O’Kane’s supply, fashioning the angle to cross from the inside-right, although Neale could not quite connect as hoped as he slotted over from 10 yards out.
At 78 minutes, another defining incident would occur as the referee brandished a straight red card from his pocket.
Having first already booked Gillan on 61 minutes, the Moyola man lunged in late on Seanna Foster in front of the players’ entrance. It left the Cliftonville loanee sore and grounded, and amid the cries of the home support in close proximity, Devlin deemed that the midfielder’s late entry met the criteria to warrant not just a second yellow but a red outright.
It was arguably this deciding moment that finally allowed Bangor some extended time and control in possession. With 10 men on the pitch, the visitors prioritised the counter and lowered the press, and such was the weather that ball-playing football probably felt most suitable.
The Seagulls enjoyed a couple of chances to add a second. Reece Neale, hitherto not seen entering from the bench all season as he replaced the bruised Foster, could not trap the ball under his spell on 88 minutes as Glover fed him into the 18-yard area. As the game was about to enter added time, meanwhile, Glover himself felt he had a clean break, but a recovering intervention meant he could not pull the trigger when one-on-one with Findlay.
After a final caution – Moyola substitute Stephen Sullivan for a flailing tug on Reece Neale’s shirt – Devlin called time on this encounter.
A cheer peppered by more than just a sprinkle of relief as Bangor had wrapped up the win in steely if not sublime fashion.
It was the furthest thing from easy, both having to compete against a high-calibre opponent and the elements, but in the end, those of a Seasider persuasion knew at the end of the game’s duration that their team will take top spot should they defeat PSNI in seven days’ time.
Victorious manager Feeney was keen to stress in the aftermath that, while it was pleasing to come out on the right side, there was room for improvement.
“It was (a battle out there), I thought that we made it hard for ourselves by not taking our chances when we were on top,” he said.
“The defence and James (Taylor) were solid as usual, James calling out and Boyler (John Boyle) following his runners, but the final ball was a wee bit below what I would have liked to have seen today.
“Getting the three points was the most important thing, the points take you up the table.”
| Premier Intermediate | 14/1/23 | ||
| Dollingstown | 1 | 0 | Banbridge Town |
| Limavady United | 2 | 1 | Armagh City |
| Portstewart | 1 | 2 | Lisburn Distillery |
| Queen’s University | 2 | 1 | Tobermore United |
The focus for the senior men does now turn to this Saturday’s trip to The Dub to face PSNI. A sixth league success on the spin, and ninth in 10 in total, has the Yellows firmly back on Ballymacash’s coattails – Ballymacash, who had eight by the hour when they visited south Belfast to take on the Police last weekend – and within touching distance of the position in the third-tier standings they are dreaming of occupying come the end of the season.
“The defence and James were solid as usual, James calling out and Boyler following his runners”
Lee Feeney
Whatever way the wins come, in order for the club to achieve the objectives they want, mere points on the board are vital.
Maybe doubly so when said points are won in such a fighting manner as this.
“Nervy one, but at the end of it, a win’s a win,” pointed out Reece Neale after a similarly hard-fought victory at Queen’s University at the start of December.
“You can’t expect to go to these sorts of places and have it easy.
“These are the games that define your season, and however you see it, it’s three points in the end.”
The message is reinforced after this past weekend. A third successive shut-out props the season tally up to 17, equalling last season’s total, and the desire to set new standards is spurring this group on yet further.
A cliché phrase, maybe, but it is these kinds of outcomes that will decide the title. This was a big win.
Meanwhile, there was a handsome return to winning ways for Bangor Reserves, who earned three points in the Development League with a thumping 0-6 road success at Knockbreda.
Curtis Kenny lead the goalscoring charge for Davy Downes’ team on Friday night – he also found the net on the Under-20s’ first trip to Breda Park this season – while Ross Craig, Adam Ambrose and Ryan Devitt also marked the scoresheet against the east Belfast club.
It ends a run of three successive defeats in league play for the Seasiders, who remain in 4th-place as they elevate their points tally to 18. They sit a point behind Warrenpoint Town, the team directly above them in the table, and 12 points behind leaders Ballymacash Rangers with four games in hand.
In the Academy pool, Isaac Caldwell’s Under-18s shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Shankill United, while there were big victories for the Under-11s against Whitehead Eagles, the Under-13 NL side over Oxford United Stars, the Under-14s versus Bloomfield as well as the Under-15s facing Ballyclare Comrades.
Elsewhere, there was a commendable turnout for the first day of Bangor Ladies’ pre-season on Sunday, with many new and old faces present.
With Ethan Boylan now installed as new Ladies manager, he will hope to lead the group into prosperous times, and the invitation remains open to join in the pre-season preparations. Sessions take place between 1pm and 2:30pm at Clandeboye Park on Sundays, and you can register your interest via girlsacademy@bangorfc.com or BangorLadiesFC@outlook.com. All players aged 14 and over are welcome to attend.
In terms of arranging pre-season friendly matches, clubs are advised to contact the Ladies’ Facebook or Instagram pages for further information.
Finally, as regards the Girls Academy, it is on as usual, with training sessions taking place from 6pm until 7pm at Clandeboye Park on Tuesday evenings. It is available to all girls born between 2011 and 2016, and you can contact girlsacademy@bangorfc.com to find out more information and register your daughter’s interest in linking up.
In a momentous occasion for the Academy, it also has now had Under-10 and Under-12 teams accepted into the SBYL leagues to play competitive football, with the first games taking place on Sunday. All the more reason to join in!
Featured image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
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