An occasion that never looked likely to fall short of the Friday night billing that it was afforded, the first competitive North Down Derby since 2016 was to yield a result where plenty of context can be applied. While Ards have risen up to the heights of the top-flight in that interluding seven-year span, Bangor’s desperate fall from grace with an ignominious drop-down into the fourth rung of the pyramid meant that this fixture was once consigned to glorified friendly status.
But no longer. The Seasiders are back and ready to make their say at the senior level once more – and they certainly stated their intent in this latest iteration of a storied rivalry. Thanks to a finish just after the hour from a man who is all too familiar with the rectangular frame the ball is supposed to be destined for, the bragging rights are Bangor’s to hold for the first time in a dozen long years. And what feels like a big marker in this renaissance of dreams will long be savoured.
The thrill and sensation of derby day is tasty enough without the other factors thrown into the mix for this most high-class of occasions.
A serene evening, combined with the Friday night buzz that has come more into force in the Irish League of late, sought to attract a huge crowd to Clandeboye Park for a date that was far too long in the making.
Despite three Premiership tussles – including a mouth-watering clash at The Oval between Glentoran and Larne less than half an hour away – not a corner was left unpopulated at the north Down venue.
The final figure totted up to 1,300 and more.
It is not without reason that Friday evenings under the floodlights fire up Lee Feeney and his Bangor charges, the crowd’s support inspiring the players to produce their best selves.
Especially on this day of all days when the bragging rights of the region were at stake.
In the home line-up for this encounter, manager Feeney saw fit to make just a few changes from the opening day defeat to Ballyclare Comrades six days previously.
James Taylor was installed between the sticks for his first appearance of the new campaign in place of the capable Marc Orbinson, while Sean Brown – impressive as a substitute at Dixon Park – replaced Gareth Beattie as the teenage Larne loanee made his first start in yellow and blue.
Beattie, who was ruled out due to a pulled hamstring, still left a void, though, as 18-year-old Brown in fact featured as a right-sided centre-back. Thus, the third alteration – the curious sight of attacking midfielder Tom Mathieson lining out on the right side of defence, as unavailable stalwart David Hume dropped out.
Starting line-up:
There were three alterations in the Bangor team from the side that was defeated by Ballyclare Comrades in their opening fixture last week, with James Taylor, Sean Brown and Tom Mathieson coming into the fold in place of Marc Orbinson, David Hume and Gareth Beattie. Image from myself.
Scott McArthur, whose two-goal endeavour in defeat in east Antrim provided an injection of belief among a vast Seasider following, reprised his role behind the favoured pair of strikers, Ben Arthurs and Adam Neale.
Stat attack:
At an average age of 24.3, and with nine of the 11 players selected by Lee Feeney aged 25 or under, this ranked as one of the Bangor manager’s youngest starting selections.
In midfield, Lewis Harrison and Jack Henderson remained unbreakable, while the authoritative Lewis Francis marshalled in the heart of the backline – Ryan Arthur has an ankle blow – and Reece Neale continued his somewhat more muted role than usual to the Dungannon Swifts loanee’s left. Ben Walker was in Neale’s more commonly-seen berth at left wing-back.
Substitutes:
There were first matchday squad appearances of the season for new arrival Ross Murphy and 44-year-old Irish League legend Michael Halliday, while Under-20s Player of the Year last term Sam Millar also featured. Image from myself.
On the bench, young Sam Millar – outstanding on the final day of the PIL season when handed his senior bow at Tobermore – was named by Feeney, while evergreen Michael Halliday and new boy Ross Murphy, perhaps in line for a competitive bow, joined him.
After a moment’s remembrance in memory of David Eddis, a representative of both sides of the regional divide who sadly passed away earlier this week, the opening whistle of man in the middle Mark Dillon set this bonanza under way.
Moment of reflection:
The passing of popular former Ards and Bangor player David Eddis was sad news in the week. He spent two spells with the Seasiders, featuring in the 1986/87 campaign under Ronnie McQuillan before returning three years later under the tutelage of John Flanagan during the early days of the ‘glory years’. The club sends its condolences to David’s family at this difficult time.
The game itself was punctuated by moments of chance creation at either end.
Bangor’s first major opportunity came when Walker swooped in an enterprising delivery from the left. It was plucked out by the elder Neale, who shot first-time, but Ards ‘keeper Alex Moore was in the right place to clutch and restart.
The match was less than 180 seconds old when that first try came about.
Another major attempt arose with 20 minutes on the clock – and how Mathieson would have agonised over it.
The 23-year-old’s unfamiliar position did not wane his attacking instincts, and when he crept towards the back post to latch onto a quite divine cross-field supply by Henderson, his shot had the beating of Moore but not the post.
From Bangor native to Bangor native, former Ballyclare Comrades star Mathieson drilled low and hard but had his hands on his head when the ball inched wide of the opposite left upright.
Bolstered in that span by an Arthurs header from a Henderson corner – Ben’s older brother, Ross, only departed Ards in this current summer window – on 16 minutes and McArthur’s marginal miscontrol when he appeared clean through from Adam Neale’s lay-off, Ards were forging forward at points but it was the hosts who appeared more likely to score.
Thereafter, though, the opportunities were to dry up a little.
In football, you enjoy periods both where chances can flow and when there is comparatively more of a drought, and the latter seemed to apply more in the lead-up to the interval.
But Bangor have a few players in their camp who can make a lot out of a little.
Perhaps none more chiefly than Adam Neale.
After a 54th-minute cut-back by McArthur failed to find a connecting body, he had the Ballynahinch sharp-shooter in sight when trying the same trick just seven minutes later.
And how the 30-year-old made the most of it.
A throw-in from the left was picked up by Arthurs, a surname the red and blue faithful were jeering more than cheering than in recent times, and the Kircubbin line-leader fed into McArthur’s stride when the attacker made a darting run behind Ards’ defence. Remaining in an onside position, he fired low across the face of goal where the predatory Neale lurked.
It can’t have been from much more than a yard out, but scavengers feed off all the scraps. He bundled home from where he could not miss.
Typical Adam Neale.
Cue the Clandeboye Road end’s eruption into a fierce chorus of song. The Bangor Ultras, equipped with a loudspeaker and never short of voice, brought the noise – and the players reciprocated it in full.
Former Rathfriland goal-getter Neale has scored goals at a rate of knots, but one suspects that few had been met with quite as raucous a roar as that finish.
The Seagulls were soaring. And with the whole team in tow, they flew into the crowd and took in the embraces of a following that congregated and dreamed of a moment like this.
Well, now it was as real as the water is wet.
Player spotlight:
As far as his return to Bangor has been concerned, Jack Henderson is picking up where he left off. With his diverse passing range and installation as the Seasiders’ new primary set-piece taker, the midfielder has certainly added a fresh dimension to Lee Feeney’s side. Image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
The aim was to defend the lead thereafter. Ards shot out a warning; they had the ball in the net, in fact, through Adam McCallum, but the centre-back’s header from George Tipton’s free-kick was correctly disallowed following a handball by Eamon Scannell that teed him up.
It was adjudged to have been cynically deliberate when Scannell was shown a yellow card, with Taylor also going into the referee’s notebook moments later following a fairly typical sequence of derby day pushing and shoving.
McCallum – ironically, a key component of a Lisburn Rangers side now helmed by double-winning former Bangor boss Hugh Sinclair – hoped his finish at least laid out a statement.
Player spotlight:
Having arrived on a season-long loan from Dungannon Swifts with a burgeoning reputation under his belt, defender Lewis Francis has lived up to the billing in his early days on the seaside. He received immense plaudits for the account he produced in this derby battle. Image from Gary Carson.
There were chances at both ends, true to form.
Substitute Dylan O’Kane thought he’d buried his Ards past with a sumptuous lob over Moore on 83 minutes, but his name was not to be in lights as the ball sailed a distance off the mark.
Four minutes later, at the other end, Taylor held firm when James McLaughlin, who Ards supremo Matthew Tipton snapped up from Coleraine, fired a goal-bound shot straight down the throat of the one-time Glenavon shot-stopper.
In an Ards selection that included the reinstated Ethan Taggart, Patrick Cafolla and DeeDee McAllister from the start, there were also no fewer than seven summer signings – as well as Moore, who was in for his first appearance of the season after Neil Shields featured in goal during their 3-1 defeat to Newington.
Their old foes hoped that any bedding-in processes could be capitalised on in the form of a winning result.
And after a scrappy end that saw seven players have their names taken down for bookable offences by leading whistler Dillon in the final 25 minutes alone, that is just what was achieved.
Stat attack:
Remarkably, Bangor’s accumulation of five bookings in the final 25 minutes was more than they had received in 90 minutes of any league game last campaign.
Fellow replacement Conor Scannell joined his older sibling in the copybook from the Ards end, while Henderson, Harrison, Francis and Walker received cautions among the home camp.
But when Dillon called time, the three points were staying in Bangor.
Smiles from one end to last until Boxing Day and beyond.
Frowns from the other.
Derby day. This is what it feels like; a feeling far, far too long in the making.
It also represents the Seasiders’ first three points in senior football in seven years. Signed and sealed with their first victory fruits in a North Down Derby since April 2011, in which they conquered Ards by a goal to nil in Ballyclare.
| Playr-Fit Championship | Matchday Two (11-12/8/23) | ||
| Ballinamallard United | 4 | 2 | Dergview |
| Bangor | 1 | 0 | Ards |
| Dundela | 4 | 0 | Ballyclare Comrades |
| Knockbreda | 0 | 1 | Annagh United |
| Newington | 0 | 2 | Harland and Wolff Welders |
| Portadown | 1 | 0 | Institute |
Taking into account the positivity of that performance at Dixon Park, where McArthur had twice handed the visitors the initiative against the Comrades en route to a reversal by the odd goal in five, that momentum was carried on to bring home a result that the supporters could revel in and enjoy for a long time yet.
That’s according to Adam Neale himself, who was delighted to make it a night to remember.
“Yeah, we’re all really happy,” he reveals after burying his 28th goal since joining Bangor in September of last year.
“It’s a great result for the fans who came out, it’s been a long time since Bangor had the bragging rights in a derby and it’s good that we were able to go out and do it for them.
“The game against Ballyclare, we were disappointed afterwards to lose that one but we took positives from the performance”
Bangor frontman Adam Neale felt it was crucial that the Yellows carried the momentum from their narrow 3-2 defeat to Ballyclare Comrades into the feisty derby encounter with Ards
“Obviously we went into the game knowing that there was a big hype about it, a big crowd, the first (competitive) derby in a long time and there’s pressure that comes with that.
The quotes section:
“It’s a great result for the fans who came out, it’s been a long time since Bangor had the bragging rights in a derby and it’s good that we were able to go out and do it for them. Obviously we went into the game knowing that there was a big hype about it, a big crowd, the first (competitive) derby in a long time and there’s pressure that comes with that. But in the changing room, to be honest, we sort of kept a lid on all that” – Bangor’s Adam Neale felt the Seasiders camp did well to focus attention away from the hype of the occasion. Image from Gary Carson.
“But in the changing room, to be honest, we sort of kept a lid on all that. It wasn’t like we went in (with the mindset) that it was any other game, but we went out there with the pressure off our shoulders after we came out.
“There’s a quiet confidence among ourselves and a belief among ourselves”
There are no issues in the self-belief department at Bangor, emphasises striker Adam Neale
“There’s a quiet confidence among ourselves and a belief among ourselves. We have that, and it kind of comes down from the management and goes all around the playing squad. We never had any doubt going in that we had what it took to go out and win the game, even if it is a derby, and that’s what we did.”
Neale, who arrived on the back of an Amateur League and Intermediate Cup double with new PIL outfit Rathfriland, added the Steel and Sons Cup and third-tier title to make it an effective clean sweep of intermediate football in just 12 months.
Having now netted at the senior level in a yellow and blue jersey, he added that a show of spirit and heart in Ballyclare spurred the side on to marry that with a winning result sooner rather than later.
And a derby was just the place to do it.
“After Ballyclare, we wanted to take the momentum of the performance into this game,” points out Neale.
“We showed ourselves that we can perform at this level and compete against good teams, and we know that we were given a tough start with three top-six teams last year and then Portadown dropping into the league. But, to be honest, I felt that (Ards) was the perfect game for us to bounce back.
“The game against Ballyclare, we were disappointed afterwards to lose that one but we took positives from the performance.
The quotes section:
“After Ballyclare, we wanted to take the momentum of the performance into this game. We showed ourselves that we can perform at this level and compete against good teams, and we know that we were given a tough start with three top-six teams last year and then Portadown dropping into the league. But, to be honest, I felt that (Ards) was the perfect game for us to bounce back. I felt it was the perfect game to get ourselves back on track, being a derby match and where the stakes are a little bit higher, the perfect occasion with the Friday night and the big crowd to deliver a response” – striker Adam Neale felt the derby feel was just the right setting for Bangor to perform in. Image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
“I felt it was the perfect game to get ourselves back on track, being a derby match and where the stakes are a little bit higher, the perfect occasion with the Friday night and the big crowd to deliver a response.
“It’s a bonus for us if we hit the ground running, obviously we want to put points on the board early to give ourselves the best chance of doing well”
Adam Neale is targeting a substantial points reward from the early stages of the season
“It’s a bonus for us if we hit the ground running, obviously we want to put points on the board early to give ourselves the best chance of doing well.”
Ballyclare, who finished sixth-place in the Championship last season, were defeated 4-0 by Bangor’s next opponents this Saturday past.
Goals by Anto Burns, Andy Hall and a second-half stoppage-time brace by Charlie Dornan handed Dundela a commanding victory at Wilgar Park that sets them well on their way to another promotion push. They were fourth-place last time out and, under new manager Stephen Gourley, are now on the board.
But while acknowledging the Duns’ quality, Neale insists the no-fear factor will play into the Seasiders’ hands when they roll out the red carpet for the east Belfast outfit this Friday.
“I guess that’s just the nature of the league,” he goes on.
“The Championship’s infamous for being a topsy-turvy league, it’s got that reputation; it can be crazy at times, it’s a bit dog-eat-dog and any team can beat any team.
“The Championship’s infamous for being a topsy-turvy league, it’s got that reputation; it can be crazy at times”
Bangor striker Adam Neale believes Bangor must be on top of their game to achieve positive results in the Championship
“It has that reputation and it makes it difficult. We know this Friday night, it’s going to be tough, but we’re not reading too much into any result.
“To go out and get that derby win, it lifts confidence.
The quotes section:
“The Championship’s infamous for being a topsy-turvy league, it’s got that reputation; it can be crazy at times, it’s a bit dog-eat-dog and any team can beat any team. It has that reputation and it makes it difficult. We know this Friday night, it’s going to be tough, but we’re not reading too much into any result” – for Adam Neale, there is no reason to be fearful of what challenge Dundela may pose. Image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
“It (the Championship) was an adjustment for us, both in terms of the tempo and a different style of play to maybe what we maybe would have been used to in the PIL. That’s not to say every team’s going to play the same way, but generally, the teams at this level are moving the ball faster and there are players who can change a game.
“Among ourselves, a few new signings were involved and we’re coming to terms with that, too – especially in the starting 11. It was a bit like that last season as well, we had quite a lot of new players coming in – myself included – and we had to adapt quickly, it took some time to gel properly to each other and our styles of play while still being expected to win games, but it’s a good group of lads.
“We’re going into games without fear. We don’t fear anyone in this league.”
Thanks to Neale, Bangor fans have an enduring smile on their face that will not be wiped for some time yet.
Featured image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
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