It wasn’t fluid and it wasn’t free-flowing but as the common football saying goes, three points are three points. That was the view all of a Bangor persuasion will have held on Tuesday night after seeing off the stern test posed to them by in-form Limavady United, claiming a third successive one-goal victory against the Roesiders to slightly extend their lead at the top of the table to five points.
Rounding off a perfect month in terms of league form, with four wins out of four and complete with a quartet of clean sheets to boot, the Seasiders enter spring hopeful of prolonging the charge until the season’s end. Victory over a high-flying opponent keeps the side’s confidence ticking over as the business end of the campaign continues to roll in, propping the points total up to 43 and preserving that hitherto invincible PIL home record.
Under lights at Clandeboye Park on what promised to be a deciding evening, home boss Lee Feeney kept with his oft-seen trend of not naming unchanged line-ups from the last outing.
From the weekend defeat of Portstewart, two tweaks were made to the starting team. Scott McArthur was switched in for Tom Mathieson as a like-for-like adjustment in the attacking midfield position, while Dylan O’Kane was deployed in the centre of the park in Aaron Harris’ place.
With the familiar back-three formation reprised, a solid spine afforded both by the system and personnel within it was maintained, while a red-hot striker pair of Ben Arthurs and Adam Neale each sought to bolster their goal tallies up top.
Limavady’s team featured several of their most prominent danger men, including line-leader Alex Pomeroy who was unsurprisingly set up as their focal point.
Tricky winger Ryan Doherty and talented teen Lewis Tosh were also accounted for in Paul Owens’ starting plans, which, on a cold evening by the seaside, further added to the prospect of an exciting and end-to-end contest. The absence through suspension of another ace in the pack, Dean Brown, it was hoped would not leave too gaping a void with lots of quality elsewhere.
Referee Richard White led both sets of players out and signalled for kick-off at the slightly delayed time of 8:01pm.
It was the visitors who set the ball rolling, however the first meaningful chance four minutes in fell the way of the home side. An enterprising effort by McArthur, intent on backing up his first goal in league play for the campaign last time out, fell just the wrong side of the bottom left post.
What followed for the next 20 minutes or so was a combative battle that did not yield too many goal-bound looks. The intensity was high, the spirit competitive such that it left all within the ground feeling a little unnerved.
The tension of that period came to a head on 24 minutes when Pomeroy and Doherty linked up in the Bangor penalty area. The former picked out an acute pass into the latter, but the palms of James Taylor – as many have found out in recent times – were called to thwart him only around 10 yards out from the net.
If that generated angst, barely 60 seconds later those feelings were replaced by jubilation. A familiar combination drew first blood for the boys in yellow and blue.
Arthurs took the ball in stride down the left byline and fashioned an angle to cut back amid a crowd of three Limavady defenders. He laid it low, picking out the run of partner-in-crime Neale in the centre for the Ballynahinch ace to do the rest.
There may be some debate over who got the last touch. 29-year-old sharp-shooter Neale came under competition for the ball from Lims skipper Hugh Carlin, and on reviewing the video footage it may be that the deciding intervention was last off the experienced defender – no way will the striker give it up without a fight, though, and besides, the primary significance lies purely in the ball nestling in the net.
As it stands, it counts as a milestone 20th goal in Bangor colours for a man who has a status as one of the side’s shining stars. He joins Arthurs, his provider, in reaching that mark in all competitions, and wasting no time either having taken just 18 games to strike one-score.
The task herein was to retain and build, to preserve and prosper, but it would not represent a simple task.
On 37 minutes, Doherty let fly from 25 yards out, but it bore down on Taylor who again got an assured grip, while at the other end it was the turn of January recruit Richard Purcell to be his side’s saviour.
Reece Neale guided a direct ball into his older brother’s path, and it almost cued one of the best individual goals you would have seen all season. On 40 minutes, Adam’s tight touch kept the ball under his check by the left touchline before he swerved past the opposition defender tracking him, thereafter cutting inside and firing low towards the bottom left corner; 21-year-old Purcell, already having seen his resistance breached once, used his legs to stop the ex-Rathfriland man adding to his total by his near post.
An enterprising 44th-minute header by advanced defender Ryan Arthur from O’Kane’s right-sided corner was dealt with, and it was on that note with which White called the first period to a conclusion.
A one-goal game and an upholding of another remarkable season statistic, in that only once has the Bangor backline been penetrated in 16 Premier Intermediate first halves this term.
Such defensive resolve would have to come to the fore once more, since for not finding the net, Limavady were still very much full of life.
Stat attack:
- Each of the seven victories Bangor had enjoyed in 2023, prior to this game, featured a goal in the first half.
Owens would mull over what more his men could do – which included a half time change, as Jack Bradley was introduced for Connor McCloskey – in what was cast to be a fighting show across the second half in North Down.
But Feeney, all the same, prides himself in the trust within his squad, and there could be little doubt of the hosts’ desire to meet it head-on.
The first meaningful look from either side – again, that trend of fast-paced, high-intensity play driven much in part by the fourth-placed visitors was retained – came on 58 minutes, when Arthur glanced a header wide from close in.
The north coast institution, opting for yellow shorts along with their traditional blue shirt in a rather unfamiliar combination, returned the favour five minutes later when Doherty had bore another distance drive down Taylor’s throat.
66 minutes had passed when another O’Kane flag-kick, this time from the left side with Bangor shooting towards the Hawthorne Court end, was unfortunate not to be blasted home by Adam Neale when he could not adjust his body in time for the ball bobbling in front of him.
Feeney deployed a triple substitution shortly after, and two of those introduced almost combined for a stunning strike.
Player spotlight:
Industrious as ever in the centre of midfield, club captain Lewis Harrison stood out for his work off the ball against Limavady United, closing opponents down quickly and stopping passes being played into dangerous areas within the final third. Image from Sarah Harkness.
With 70 minutes on the clock, Cliftonville loanee Seanna Foster whipped in an eagle-eyed cross towards the edge of the area where Harris lay in wait. The former Lisburn Distillery captain, who chipped in two sublime assists in that 4-0 thrashing of Limavady’s regional rivals Portstewart three days prior, almost subjected the Roesiders to his wrath only for his sweeping, curling first-time volley to inch just wide of the bottom left corner. Purcell was rooted to the spot.
75 minutes of the match had passed when Tiarnan Boorman guided a free header from a corner wide of the post, before another set-piece opportunity on 85 minutes had most of those in the stadium thinking the score was tied. Doherty, by far the vivacious visitors’ most prolific shooting threat on the evening, guided a deep free kick only just past Taylor’s right-hand post with a supply from the right touchline.
Stat attack:
- Adam Neale scored in a fourth game in a row for Bangor, breaking his previous record of three successive matches in yellow and blue that was set back in October.
With a few minutes of regulation still to play, the third of those three changes had made his presence felt. Tom Mathieson’s powerful drive from 15 yards called his former Comrades colleague Purcell to react sharply, and that he did – he tipped onto the post to deny the local favourite a second strike in as many games.
The 23-year-old later curled not far beyond the bottom right on the stroke of added-time before the fourth and final replacement, Jamie Glover, guided Foster’s cut-back into the gloves of Purcell in the fixture’s last meaningful action.
Having added four minutes to the traditional 90, White decided to call game.
Punches in the air of delight that three authentically battling points were decidedly booked.
The result props Bangor up to 43 points from 48 available, now a full 15 ahead of Limavady and five clear at the top of the league. With Queen’s University victorious over Banbridge Town, they lift into second-place ahead of their crunch clash with Ballymacash Rangers – who they provisionally replace – on Saturday.
| Premier Intermediate | 28/2/23 | ||
| Armagh City | 1 | 1 | Dollingstown |
| Bangor | 1 | 0 | Limavady United |
| Queen’s University | 3 | 1 | Banbridge Town |
The Seasiders take on fellow County Down unit The Town next and after the game, Gareth Beattie keenly stressed that is where the players’ focus solely lies.
“Feeno’s [Lee Feeney] just drilling it home in there, the conversation that we had after was Banbridge Saturday. It’s not really about the table or what other teams are doing what, it’s about our next game,” the 31-year-old right wing-back insisted.
“We’re not looking two or three weeks away, it’s straight onto the next one – we’re focused on ourselves, it was the same again and now we’ll prepare for Banbridge on Saturday.”
“Everyone’s fighting for each other. The confidence is just flying, we’re all in this together”
Gareth Beattie
Speaking on the confidence in the camp right now, fan favourite ‘Beats’ waxed lyrical about the chemistry among the playing panel.
“You’ve seen there, Feeno’s changing the team a bit but when we’re getting our chances, we’re taking them,” he stated.
“You look at the squad depth, Tom [Mathieson] I thought was absolutely phenomenal on Saturday and tonight he doesn’t even get in the team.
“You’ve Jamie [Glover] and Scotty [McArthur] there, three good young attacking midfielders and picking who starts is like a coin toss. Feeno’s given me a few chances and I’m going out there, but when Seanna’s [Foster] on I’m cheering him because it’s all about the collective.
“You don’t want it that you’re fighting for the title, when you’ve won the league and you’ve maybe two or three boys in there who don’t feel like they’re a part of it. It keeps us happy, it keeps us looking over our shoulders and everyone knows when they’re going out there, they’ve got to give their best every game.
“Everyone’s fighting for each other. The confidence is just flying, we’re all in this together and to be honest, when we’re like that, I can’t see many teams beating us. I’ve been in dressing rooms before but none like this one.”
“You’ve seen there, Feeno’s changing the team a bit but when we’re getting our chances, we’re taking them”
Gareth Beattie
Beattie, who tasted Steel and Sons Cup success in both 2011 and 2022 with the Seagulls, insisted showing the visiting team their due respect was fundamental in the hosts taking the spoils.
“Limavady, they’re a good side, they’d went the last six or seven unbeaten and they’d have went in thinking they have a real chance and an energy about them, so we have to step up to it,” he added. “It was high-tempo but we defended well as a unit and we kept their clear-cut chances low.
“Another one ticked off. The boys just love winning… and it’s not even about making sure of ourselves before the split, we just want to keep winning and keep clean sheets every game – we do that, and we win the league.
“We don’t even want to train Thursday. We want a game, we just want to play!”
“It’s not even about making sure of ourselves before the split, we just want to keep winning and keep clean sheets every game”
Gareth Beattie
To show the bottle to navigate through choppy waters is an important quality in any title-winning team. The signs indicate that Bangor can persevere when their opponents take it to them.
It may not be every game that the Clandeboye clan are in peak performance, but to display two different ways of how to win a football match in the space of three days reinforces why the stands are believing.
A busy March now awaits, with trips to Banbridge, Dollingstown, PSNI and Moyola Park still to be made. Picking up as many points as possible is stating the obvious, but it rings true.
That said, if a victory in this manner doesn’t fire you up, then little else will.
Featured image from Sarah Harkness.
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