It proved to be a day of celebration for Bangor on Saturday, and not one with any backdrop of dampened spirits. As in the first meeting at The Bluebell all the way back in September, the scoreline read one apiece with Ballymacash Rangers, following a similar trend as then of the home team breaking the deadlock and the visitors striking late to gain a share of the spoils.
When the final whistle blew and the trophy procession was undertaken, that was the cue for a day of joy and jubilation on the pitch and at the bar afterwards. An unbeaten home record in league play has now been preserved and champagne corks have been at long last popped for a double-winning endeavour, smiles on faces all over Clandeboye Park to put the final seal on this season for the ages.
By the seaside on Saturday, manager Lee Feeney prepared his charges for a game they were still desperate to clinch a positive result in.
After Marc Orbinson received a run-out in Tuesday night’s entertaining 2-2 draw with Limavady United, James Taylor was restored to the sticks for the visit of The ‘Cash. Reece Neale came back into the fray at his usual left wing-back berth, while Jordan Hughes slotted in behind the strike-pair up top that comprised the returning Ben Arthurs – and, in turn, it was a reversion to the 3-4-1-2 system observed most commonly of late.
The Bangor starting 11 for Saturday afternoon’s fixture against Ballymacash Rangers featured four changes from the side that started out against Limavady United on Tuesday night. Entering were James Taylor, Reece Neale, Jordan Hughes and Ben Arthurs from that most recent outing. Image from myself.
Four adjustments in all were made by the Kilkeel chief after that result against the Roesiders, with an attack-minded assortment on the bench including Tom Mathieson, Jamie Glover and the veteran Michael Halliday.
The Bangor substitutes’ panel saw starters from Tuesday night Marc Orbinson, Jamie Glover and Tom Mathieson included, while Gareth Beattie, who had been scheduled to start against Limavady United prior to a late pull-up, assumed his place on the bench here. Image from myself.
Lee Forsythe’s troops traversed to north Down knowing that, thanks to a big goal difference superiority over third-placed Queen’s University, a point would all but secure them a prized play-off spot.
Feeney’s opposite number fielded a strong selection that saw Guillaume Keke preferred as line-leader, with 14-goal Jack Smith and PIL Team of the Season representative Dylan Davidson supporting the Frenchman in giving forward-minded impetus from the wings. Their focus, prevalent having been yet to concede in the post-split, would likewise be put on defensive solidity too, with captain Jordan Morrison orchestrating.
Referee Joseph Mullan, officiating just his second fixture involving Bangor this term, joined Ballymacash in a pre-match guard of honour as the homesters walked out for kick-off – a great gesture that preceded a captivating joust.
At 1:02pm, the visitors elected to set the ball rolling. It would be a while, though, before the game truly kicked into life.
On 16 minutes, the first clear-cut chance of the match arrived after Adam Neale received invitingly in his stride from a weighted through-ball. Having got behind the ‘Cash defensive line, though, his goal-bound prod was dealt with by an alert Brian Neeson, who made himself big and used his legs to divert the ball’s passage away from the net before smothering.
Six minutes later, an ambitious 30-yard attempt by Seanna Foster inched wide of former Ards stopper Neeson’s left-hand post, while a deliciously inswinging Aaron Harris corner from the left was glanced narrowly beyond the upright by Arthurs’ head merely 60 seconds after.
Concern was etched on the faces of Bangor supporters when captain Lewis Harrison was substituted only 25 minutes in.
Having initially pulled up, his attempts to soldier on after a spell of treatment did not last, and the 23-year-old hobbled off holding his hamstring to be replaced by Dylan O’Kane.
A like-for-like switch in the engine room, the Seagulls continued to keep most of the action at the Clandeboye Road end against a well-organised Ballymacash defensive block.
Player spotlight:
Entering the fray as a substitute during the first half when Lewis Harrison was forced off with an injury, Dylan O’Kane acquainted himself quickly with the demands of the contest and put in a reliable performance in the middle of the park. He ensured alongside Aaron Harris that the Seasiders midfield was kept in good check, and was able to contribute to progressing the play up the pitch. Image from Gary Carson.
On the stroke of the half-hour, seasoned goalkeeper Neeson would once again be at the fore when he denied Arthurs. Foster – who joined Cliftonville in 2019 right as the opposition No.19 swapped Solitude for the red and blue of Bangor’s long-standing rivals – linked in the Peninsula front-man, but a placed try from the edge of the area called the ‘keeper, who has 13 clean sheets this term, to parry.
An acrobatic overhead kick by Hughes was next to arise on 33 minutes, with Ryan Arthur having recycled a prior corner after Arthurs’ aerial attempt had steered away, but it was dependable 33-year-old Neeson on hand to hold. Where there had been fireworks in February, with Adam Neale’s opener inside five minutes and a straight sending-off for ‘Cash’s Davidson within 15, this felt a distinctly tamer affair.
On the stroke of added time, Harris fired wide of the top left after Arthurs brought down Adam Neale’s cross from the inside-left.
That was the note Mullan closed the first period on when he signalled for the interval, adding one minute more to the 45.
The west Lisburn travellers had entered with a defined game-plan, to keep it tight, and having let in only 19 goals in 25 preceding fixtures, they have shown that they are a tough nut to crack.
Feeney’s team-talk would perhaps have centred on firing up the hosts’ creative imagination against a system that was going to give little up. Former Ards Rangers supremo Forsythe’s, meanwhile, may have set about managing the game and introducing some of his array of attacking pieces from the bench.
With strikers Zach Barr and Michael Moore, young winger Adam Wright and industrious duo Stuart Clarke and Matthew Parker among the ‘Cash subs, there was the capacity to do that.
Which team drew first blood felt like it could have defined things.
Incidentally, in this week’s issue of ‘how to kill goal-cam’, it was the turn of substitute goalkeeper Marc Orbinson to give it his best effort after the rather comedic scenes of Michael Halliday trying to fix it against Queen’s University.
But I tell you what, if that was what he was aiming for, it was quite pinpoint!
The second stanza restarted with a Bangor kick-off, and the penalty-box action continued to stick around their opponents’ half.
Not that Neeson was that troubled; Reece Neale’s free kick from 25 yards sailed high over the crossbar before the summer signing in nets dealt with a Hughes drive from distance.
But 10 minutes following the restart, his resolve was broken. And, as it happened, it was also a deciding finish in the top goalscorer race.
A gradual build-up move resulted in the ball being funnelled out to Hughes down the inside-right, who threaded a well-placed pass into the path of Adam Neale. Ballynahinch front-man Neale put himself on the map with his first PIL goal at The Bluebell in September – and his 20th was against the same opposition and goalkeeper to hand Bangor the initiative.
From a tight angle, his first-time drive at goal was towards the shot-stopper’s near post, and for using his legs in an attempt to beat the ball’s trajectory away from goal, it deflected in at the bottom right to prop Adam on top of the third-tier scoring charts.
Stat attack:
- After finishing against Ballymacash Rangers, Adam Neale continues an impressive streak of six goalscoring games in a row. He has scored the opener in five of them.
Lifting him one above team-mate Arthurs as the outright top marksman with a game to go, it promises to be a pulsating sprint that goes down to the wire. There can be little doubt of the 29-year-old’s influence since his arrival from Rathfriland, though, and his hunger for goals has helped leave an indelible mark on the Seasiders’ 2022/23 crusade. But with 35 minutes left to play, there was still a need to keep cool heads.
On 61 minutes, it probably should have been two.
A frantic sequence following an initial parried save by Neeson from Adam Neale saw the ball recirculated into his younger sibling, with Foster’s subsequent shot deflected into Reece Neale only for the left wing-back to strike the bar merely a few yards out from goal.
Neeson may not have known too much about his part in denying former Linfield Swifts skipper Neale’s close-range attempt, with the effort striking him square in the face and then the underside of the top upright before bouncing back in front of the white line, but it was a critical moment.
It left hands on heads from a home stand packed to the rafters, and drew some serious sighs of relief from the ‘Cash travelling support.
Tempers flared a bit with 64 minutes played after an altercation between Taylor and Keke broke out – man in the middle Mullan yellow-carded both players in the aftermath – before Neeson reacted spritely to block out Foster’s blast from six yards out at 70 minutes.
Two minutes after that, former Coleraine ace Gareth Tommons had a crack from outside the box, and it was enough to unsettle some in the home stand as his rasping drive dipped just over the upright.
From there on, Forsythe introduced Moore and Barr in a forward-thinking double-sub from the bench, while a replacement of Feeney’s own – Tom Mathieson, who entered in place of Hughes behind the strikers – supplied Adam Neale with a super long ball on 81 minutes, although Neeson was again able to lay claim.
There could be little doubt those entering the action as substitutes were adding new energy to proceedings. On 84 minutes, with Ballymacash having by now availed of their full allocation through a triple-sub made moments earlier, they earned a golden chance from 12 yards to deliver a levelling blow.
Stat attack:
- Bangor had not let in an open-play penalty in a competitive fixture at Clandeboye Park for 14 months prior to Jordan Morrison’s conversion from 12 yards here. Mark McCabe of Dollingstown had done it most recently beforehand in February 2022.
After Arthur slid in on Wright, the referee displayed no hesitation in awarding a penalty kick to the visitors. Where it was Smith who was denied by Taylor in that Friday night bash back in February, Morrison – who was unavailable that day – took up the mantle this time around.
Despite the experienced Glenavon stalwart guessing correctly as he did on that rainy evening, the power and placement from centre back Morrison was on-point as he hauled ‘Cash even.
The captain, now up to 12 league finishes this term, fired low and hard into the bottom left before wheeling away to the travelling faithful.
They all knew what a point would mean. They knew how precious it would be.
There was still time for a bit of late theatre. David Hume saw his goal-bound header from Harris’ left-sided flag-kick hurried off the line by Parker, while a handful of vehement penalty appeals were waved off by Mullan in added time after several of a Seasider persuasion felt that Mathieson had been upended by Morrison on his way to goal.
Following four minutes of additional time, the leading official blew for the finish.
There were no down moods. Ballymacash, on successfully allaying any final-day nerves for their trip to The Dub, celebrated clinching a play-off berth in their first season as an Irish League football club.
And, from a pride point of view, Bangor revelled in going undefeated at home in the PIL this term. 14 games played, 11 wins, three draws and zero defeats.
Knowing the trophy presentation would immediately follow, a loss would have felt a somewhat eerie backdrop for all from a Seasider standpoint. That scenario was gratefully averted.
After the final whistle, the various officials from the NI Football League set up the podium and red carpet specially for the band of brothers in yellow and blue who would soon hold aloft the third-tier trophy.
Northern Ireland Football League Chief Executive Gerard Lawlor holds the Premier Intermediate League trophy, draped in yellow and blue ribbons, prior to presenting the cup to Bangor for winning the division. Image from Gary Carson.
One by one, from the management team to the players, from boss Feeney to captain Harrison, they received their medals from NIFL Chief Executive Gerard Lawlor and, as an exultant Harrison held the cup high, the party could start.
It was soaking rain Feeney was drenched in seven days prior at Queen’s. It was sparkling bubbly this time around – you could smell it a mile out.
Thereafter, having waited patiently to serenade their knights in shining armour, fans entered the pitch to embrace their heroes.
Congratulations, hugs, gibberish… the winners’ high really had captured the imagination.
Some players could just about capture their emotions and put it in a sentence.
“What a year,” exclaimed an elated Reece Neale. “What a year, we’re out to enjoy this now… but see next year? Next year’s going to be even better, all those trips to wherever and the North Down derbies, I can’t wait for it!”
“See next year? Next year’s going to be even better, all those trips to wherever and the North Down derbies, I can’t wait for it!”
You would have been hard-pressed to wipe the smile off Reece Neale’s face during the post-full-time celebrations
Ben Arthurs, equipped with a seagull mask once more as at The Dub, gave off a similar sort of sentiment.
“It’ll be nice to get a break from it to be honest, it’s been a long season but it’ll be a new adventure for us (the Championship) and we’ll be ready to go again,” enthused the 24-year-old PIL Player of the Season, one of many who were the toast of Bangor on Saturday.
The quotes section:
“It’ll be nice to get a break from it to be honest, it’s been a long season but it’ll be a new adventure for us (the Championship) and we’ll be ready to go again” – Bangor striker Ben Arthurs is looking forward to the challenges that come in the Championship next season, while also making sure to live life in the present.
Jolly spirits all around – and excitement not just about the here and now, but the future too.
“Absolutely, the only way is up from here,” beamed a delighted Bangor Chairman Graham Bailie.
“We’ll ready ourselves for a higher level, we’ll work hard, we’ll go out and enjoy ourselves and keep the good times coming”
Bangor Chairman Graham Bailie is keeping a progressive outlook in the aftermath of sealing the Premier Intermediate League title
“We’ll ready ourselves for a higher level, we’ll work hard, we’ll go out and enjoy ourselves and keep the good times coming.”
| Premier Intermediate | 29/4/23 (Post-split 4/Section A) | ||
| Bangor | 1 | 1 | Ballymacash Rangers |
| Limavady United | 4 | 2 | Queen’s University |
| Moyola Park | 0 | 0 | Tobermore United |
Much drink was on the agenda in the Social Club afterwards to the point where not many supporters can really remember the rest.
Bangor assistant coach Dean Gordon was all too happy to drape manager Lee Feeney in a coat of champagne during the celebrations of Bangor’s title win on Saturday. Feeney, who first took charge of the Seasiders in 2020 and nears three years steering the ship, has his second trophy of his tenure to add to the Christmas Eve clinching of the Steel and Sons Cup. Image from Gary Carson.
But the PIL and Steel and Sons Cup honours must have served as a quick reminder.
| Premier Intermediate | 29/4/23 (Post-split 4/Section B) | ||
| Armagh City | 0 | 2 | PSNI |
| Banbridge Town | 0 | 1 | Portstewart |
| Lisburn Distillery | 3 | 1 | Dollingstown |
It is easy to forget amid all this euphoria that there remains one game left to fulfil. This rounds off all the action for Saturdays this term, but a final Tuesday night trip to Tobermore beckons.
Game No.43 of the season. Despite starting all the way back in August, this sport has a way of speeding up time – and as soon as a campaign finishes, it is ever so swiftly onto the next one.
But we do know what we finish with.
Much of the Bangor support has had to stick through tough times in recent years, but with a double-winning season to toast this time around, the ever-growing Seasiders fanbase has been rewarded for their loyalty with success on the pitch. Image from Sarah Harkness.
Bangor Football Club.
Double-winners 2022/23. Oh, how sweet it is.
Moreover, the club wishes to thank the officials of Ballymacash Rangers who made a kind presentation during half time on Saturday.
They sent across a gorgeous framed picture mapping out the surrounding Bangor West area, commemorating the Seasiders as the PIL champions this term, and which will make for a pleasant walled ornament of a gleeful time for Bangor FC just now.
The side in yellow and blue further sent out a message of good luck for their red-and-white-striped counterparts ahead of the promotion play-off which, after being theoretically sealed with a point in north Down, is now all but a mathematical certainty for The ‘Cash after Limavady United conquered Queen’s University 4-2 in the later 3pm kick-offs.
A happy Lisburn return was marked as such, and, with a six-point chasm opened between themselves and the Students, a defeat at The Dub will not prove as harsh a lesson as it otherwise could have been.
Thanks also to the match and ball sponsor for Saturday’s fixture, Quik Cabs and Box-It (Ireland)/Zace Print respectively.
Quik Cabs selected defender David Hume as Man of the Match, and posed with the Premier Intermediate League and Steel and Sons Cup trophies to mark this special occasion for the Seasiders.
Meanwhile, in a busy weekend of Academy action, Bangor Reserves emerged victorious against Loughgall’s equivalents at Lakeview Park, with front-man Charley Craig bagging the winner three minutes from time on their travels.
Having not won in the first three meetings of the teams, David Downes’ boys claimed the Villagers’ scalp thanks to 18-year-old Craig’s finish. Going against the trend as a one-goal game – the previous trio of encounters had yielded 18 – a shut-out victory will surely have been to the satisfaction of the defensive line.
Player spotlight:
It has proved a highly prolific 2022/23 season at Under-20 level for front-man Charley Craig, who has bolstered his goalscoring tally through netting the winner against Loughgall Reserves on Saturday. A match that kicked off at 11am, teenager Craig’s strike helped make Saturday all the sweeter having handed Bangor Reserves three more points for their season tally. Featured image from Sarah Harkness.
The second string remain in fourth-place with two games to go, with trips to Warrenpoint Town – who are now confirmed as the champions – and Lisburn Distillery to close the campaign out on.
Downes will likely set targets of a podium finish and the 50-point barrier that remains in reach. With the manager and his players rushing back in time for the trophy lift, followed by a trip to the Social afterwards, that’s perhaps an ideal illustration that it really was a good day.
Prior to kick-off, Bangor’s Under-17s were presented with a trophy of their own, namely the SBYL Premier Supplementary Cup that they had won the previous week through the agony of a penalty shoot-out.
Andy Neill’s squadron find themselves in with a shout of a double to add to that nerve-wracking affair against Downpatrick, too, given they were victorious the night before in the semi-finals of the SBYL Premier Division League Cup.
They had the beating of Celtic Boys to reach the decider, and the club naturally wishes them well in advance of what could be another date with destiny.
Sticking with the SBYL, there were five members of Bangor represented in the Under-14 Select team that won the Blackpool Cup on Sunday. In six games across two days. The club very much congratulates them on this phenomenal achievement and for representing the club across the water with distinction.
Featured image from Sarah Harkness.
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