It is an Easter Tuesday trip to Tobermore for Bangor, as the Seasiders head up the road to tackle Moyola Park in the last of the 22 pre-split matches the club are obliged to fulfil. The first of a double-header, with Moyola making the trip to Clandeboye just four days later, it will be considered of utmost importance to Lee Feeney and his panel that the north Down pride’s position is as strong as possible going into the final five.
Fresh from securing a hard-earned eighth victory in the nine most recent Premier Intermediate League outings at the weekend, all of a yellow and blue persuasion will be naturally eager to see that figure rise to 28 points assembled from 30 on offer – and 59 points out of 66 for the pre-split overall. That said, this is unlikely to be a formality.
Bangor have bad recent memories of Fortwilliam Park, being the only venue to date they have suffered defeat at in the league this term.
Back at January’s tail end, when usual home team Tobermore United rolled out the red carpet, the travelling supporters headed home disappointed following a bitter 2-0 reverse at the hands of the Reds.
Moyola, who have been ground-sharing with United since the start of February while work is done to their Mill Meadow venue – located right next to the Moyola river from which their name is adopted – will hope to inflict similar emotions.
And Stephen Hughes’ charges are in the kind of form that suggests they could.
Decisions, decisions…
Against Limavady United at the end of February, Gareth Beattie described manager Lee Feeney’s choice of who to start in the attacking midfield role as a “coin toss”. While the in-form Tom Mathieson was rested, Scott McArthur (left) and Jamie Glover turned in impressive accounts – the latter from left wing-back – to all but prove the point of this hotly contested selection dilemma. Image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
Moreover, they know a thing or two about causing heartbreaks. No fresher than just a few days ago, when Ian Parkhill’s first-half winner – combined with Tobermore’s simultaneous win over Dollingstown on Saturday – cost Lisburn Distillery a top-half place for the split; Andrew Law’s side made sure to capitalise.
Their visitors, who won at PSNI to soar into an 11-point lead at the third-tier peak, are next in the Castledawson club’s sights.
For Bangor, it can be said that it was a case of a storm before the calm rather than the traditional inverse.
The first half-hour, during which Adam Neale and Ben Arthurs hit the target to prop the away team into an early two-goal advantage, was chance-laden, while the 60 minutes that followed was far less of a free-flowing account.
During that time, young defender Ryan Woods nodded home a deficit-cutter for the Police, and in the end it proved a case of just taking the points and running. A spirited performance from goalkeeper Ben McCauley meant that, although Lee Feeney’s troops struck while the iron was hot in the game’s opening stages, the score was kept sufficiently down that by the time centre back Woods hit the target, it sent shivers around the stadium.
Nevertheless, no more ground was ceded by the Seasiders as they escaped with that all-important three points intact.
“Aye, I think we made it harder for ourselves than it needed to be in the end, but at this stage it’s all about getting the three points isn’t it?” midfielder Dylan O’Kane stated as the match reached its conclusion.
“At this stage it’s all about getting the three points isn’t it?”
Dylan O’Kane on what Bangor’s priority is in order to secure the Premier Intermediate League title
“We expected a tough battle against a team fighting relegation and we got one right enough.
“We know today (performance-wise) wasn’t good enough, wasn’t up to the standards that we set ourselves, but we’re ready to go and make that up when we play again on Tuesday. But as I say, it’s three points, another win and it was important that we went and got that.”
Just as in the first joust with the police institution, it was Neale and Arthurs who converted, with the double-act extraordinaire yielding 32 goals between them in league play this campaign.
Strikers live off seeing the net bustle, and with a swift turnaround between fixtures between now and the season’s end, both would undoubtedly desire to spur the Yellow plight to the last kick. Ballynahinch ace Neale, who has enjoyed a delightful debut campaign in north Down, found the winner in the home tussle with Moyola in mid-January; doubtless another for the former Rathfriland man would fuel his fire.
History lesson:
Bangor are looking to secure a pre-split double over Moyola Park for a second season in a row. Adam Neale’s 29th-minute winner in the home fixture continues a positive trend; a 5-0 victory at Clandeboye – where Gareth Beattie was a missed penalty away from a hat-trick – was followed up by an away win last season, while Ben Arthurs was at the treble in a 6-2 goal-glut in 2019/20. Image from Sarah Harkness.
It was a slender 1-0 success on a drizzly cold winter day. The rematch was meant to come at double-quick notice – only another fortnight – but it was put on the back burner when snow and ice called a freezing halt to The Park’s Intermediate Cup tie with Dollingstown the week previous. That took precedent and was dotted in for Easter Tuesday – the second such change, with a Steel and Sons Cup quarter-final causing the first delay back in November, and only now can it finally be put to rest.
It was, in fact, how the aforementioned Tobermore reverse came out. With that match no longer pencilled, a clash that was due to take place in March was pulled forward to fill what was a free week.
Owen McKeown’s second-half double was inspirational for the homesters. Their long-time rivals would desire similar here.
With the Co Derry/Londonderry outfit traversing for the first post-split fixture, confirmed as the meet of first and fifth-placed sides, it represents a chance for reacquainting ahead of a crunch final five.
- Position – fifth-place
- Points – 32 (21 matches played)
- Goals scored – 34
- Goals conceded – 24
- Top scorer – Ian Parkhill (nine goals)
- Clean sheets – six (all Andrew Findlay)
Moyola will naturally hope to count on top scorer Parkhill’s goalscoring exploits once more.
The former Coleraine hero is one away from double-digits – his finish versus the Whites, ironically played at the Bannsiders’ Ballycastle Road Showgrounds due to Tobermore’s hosting of the Dollybirds, was his ninth in league play – and regarded as a talisman for boss Hughes.
A man with over 250 appearances in the famous blue and white-striped shirt only naturally sticks out, though the club would not be where they are if they were a one-trick pony.
A fellow new arrival in former Newry City line-leader Mark Kelly (33) has made his stamp, with four goals and a penchant for disruption with his bustling physical presence, while Glentoran graduate in midfield Samuel McIlveen (28), tricky Tom Patchett (21) and 18-year-old attacking prodigy Jaydyn Withers, recruited from Cliftonville, each have three.
The reliability of fellow minute-leaders Aaron Harris, Adam Gray, Richard Vauls and Robert McLean make their spine a tough one to compromise.
Not mentioning, of course, former Ballymena League hero Chris Getty. Fondly remembered by Bangor fans for his time on the seaside, the defender has since assumed a role on Hughes’ backroom team and entered the fray as a substitute in each of The Park‘s last two games.
Player to watch:
Moyola captain Aaron Harris is a dependable presence in the rear-guard for Moyola Park, and trusted by boss Stephen Hughes to do a job on opposition attackers week in, week out. The 28-year-old is one who engages attackers well and knows his bearings, so it will take skill to work a way around him. Image from Glentoran FC website.
Moyola’s presence in the top half in itself is a marked improvement from last year, where they found their battle to be further down the table. They collected just 20 points across 2021/22’s entirety; with three matches fewer played, they are a dozen points better off.
Bangor have surpassed their mark from all of last term too, with six more points. But, as mentioned, it will still take the team being on the ball from now until the season’s close as the finish line beams on the horizon.
Three victories in the last four have helped surge Tuesday’s hosts – the first-ever Irish Cup winners in 1881 and whose founder, Major Spencer Chichester, served as the first President of the Irish FA – into this particular reckoning.
In addition to seeing Barry Johnston’s gallant Whites last time out, a duel in which the Friendship Cup was also at stake between two of Ireland’s oldest football teams, a 5-0 thumping of PSNI succeeded a nominal away win over Tobermore, while their resilience to withstand all of 83 minutes with 10 men at Mullaghacall due to Harris’ early dismissal and claim a point in a goalless draw with Portstewart was also admirable.
Form guide (PIL last five):
- 8/4/23 – Moyola Park 1-0 Lisburn Distillery (played at Coleraine Showgrounds)
- 1/4/23 – Limavady United 2-1 Moyola Park
- 25/3/23 – Moyola Park 5-0 PSNI
- 18/3/23 – Tobermore United 1-2 Moyola Park
- 4/3/23 – Portstewart 0-0 Moyola Park
Only a slender loss at in-form Limavady blots the notebook as they have garnered 13 of the last 18 points available.
And while they may have become used to hosting opponents on an artificial surface, the grass pitch at Tobermore appears not to have hindered their ability to hold aloft visiting scalps.
| Premier Intermediate | 11/4/23 | |
| Banbridge Town | vs | Ballymacash Rangers |
| Moyola Park | vs | Bangor |
| PSNI | vs | Armagh City |
For the determination and attitude their latest visitors have shown to collect so many wins, this feels like a tie where even minor lapses could be subject to major punishment.
Feeney will want his men to be on the button. Delivering during a dominant phase was key behind the latest three points being gathered in south Belfast last time; doing similar here, and sustaining it, could prove a tone-setter.
Moyola command great respect, and from a Bangor view it will take giving them the respect they are due to complete a pre-split double.
Featured image from Gary Carson.
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