This week, Bangor stare into a testing assignment against a familiar foe. This fixture set the scene for many pulsating affairs at the intermediate rung and, following the Seasiders’ promotion back to the Championship for this season, the first-ever second-tier welcoming of Newington to Clandeboye Park, it is hoped, will see no waning in the drama stakes as both teams bid to extend their respective league streaks to six.
The Swans, who have relocated to Larne from their north Belfast heartland in respect of where they will play their home fixtures, are targeting a sixth win in succession, surprising many looking from the outside in while they set the early Playr-Fit Championship pace. The Seagulls, who return to familiar turf after consecutive away days to Fermanagh and east Belfast, are aspiring for half a dozen games unbeaten. It is a guarantee that one of those stretches will meet its end in north Down – but which one?
Six of one or half a dozen of the other… Bangor bid to extend unbeaten run
This weekend, Bangor entertain a familiar foe who are also the Playr-Fit Championship’s pacesetters at present.
Newington, who solidified top spot when they clinched a 3-1 victory over Dundela in last week’s first-versus-second joust, visit Clandeboye Park very much in an upward trend.
Promoted from the Premier Intermediate League in 2022, the Swans finished in ninth-place in their first-ever season as a senior-status football club that ensured they staved off the drop.
But if that was a successful campaign, the fashion that they have begun 2023-24 bodes ominously for their rivals-in-chief.
On Saturday, they travel to the seaside, where their yellow and blue hosts will bid to steal their thunder and extend their own unbeaten streak to six matches. A third-tier clash less than 18 months ago, this will be the first time that the teams have encountered each other in the second division – a tantalising prospect.
Bangor’s recent positive run – it is five weeks from they last tasted defeat – was extended thanks to a goalless stalemate with Harland and Wolff Welders at Blanchflower Park.
While each outfit had opportunities to win it, none could be converted and, as a result, what had began as a third-against-fourth contest instead saw both teams slip down the standings slightly to fifth and sixth.
A job on both sides of the ball:
A positive shift from left wing-back where he was preferred to Reece Neale last week has inspired belief that Ben Walker has further gears to shift through. The 18-year-old on a season-long loan from Larne has looked the part early on in the campaign, standing out for a goal-saving clearance in the first half at Blanchflower Park. Image from Gary Carson.
Nevertheless, to be perched on 11 points from seven matchdays as a newly promoted side is not to be scoffed at.
The season so far:
- 5/8/23 – Ballyclare Comrades 3-2 Bangor (McGrandles OG, McArthur)
- 11/8/23 – Bangor 1-0 Ards (A. Neale)
- 18/8/23 – Bangor 1-2 Dundela (Arthurs)
- 25/8/23 – Portadown 0-1 Bangor (McArthur)
- 2/9/23 – Bangor 1-1 Institute (Francis)
- 5/9/23 – Bangor 4-2 Ballyclare Comrades (Arthurs x4)
- 9/9/23 – Ballinamallard United 0-3 Bangor (Arthurs, Cushnie x2)
- 16/9/23 – Harland and Wolff Welders 0-0 Bangor
Newington have 18 – indeed, the Welders hitherto are the only establishment to deny them a perfect record.
While the ‘Ton now ply their trade in east Antrim, switching to Larne’s Inver Park this term, their heartland assuredly remains north Belfast. Their heart and spirit that has driven them onwards as a collective has also been retained, and that has manifested itself into why they sit at the most dizzying heights in their history.
Paul Hamilton’s men collected their latest three-point haul when hosting the Duns. A penalty by Eamonn Hughes and a brace by a former Bangor feature in Darren Stuart meant they took full claim of the spoils on offer.
Man in the hotseat:
Having been part of the esteemed Conor Crossan’s backroom staff before taking the top job at Newington, the heights Paul Hamilton has taken the club are unprecedented in their history; he inspired the Swans to a first-ever promotion to senior football in his first season in charge, kept them up in his second and now has them top of the table early on in his third. Image from Bill Smyth.
That adds to prior victories over Dergview (3-2), Annagh United (3-0), Knockbreda (2-0), Ards (3-1) and Institute (3-1) to explain how, much to many an observer’s surprise and shock, the green-shirted group have spread their wings.
But the squad itself have not been stunned.
The form book (Playr-Fit Championship):
- 19/8/23 – Institute 1-3 Newington
- 26/8/23 – Newington 2-0 Knockbreda
- 2/9/23 – Annagh United 0-3 Newington
- 9/9/23 – Newington 3-2 Dergview
- 16/9/23 – Newington 3-1 Dundela
“It’s so far, so good,” Championship Player of the Month for August, Zach Barr, declared to the Belfast Telegraph.
“As a team, we believe we are capable of competing with any team in the Championship, and I think we proved that in these last few weeks.
“As a team, we believe we are capable of competing with any team in the Championship”
Belief among the Newington camp is high after a hot start to the season, as Zach Barr explains
“We know other clubs look at us as potential relegation candidates as we finished ninth last year, but our target at the start of the season was to finish in the top six. It’s early days, but so far we’ve proved we can mix it with anyone.”
Player spotlight:
A goal-getter that Bangor are well accustomed to facing from his days playing for Portstewart and Ballymacash Rangers, Zach Barr has raised the roof at Newington and hit five goals since making the step up to the Championship stage. Such exploits earned him the league’s NIWFA Player of the Month award for August, illustrating his danger factor. Image from NIWFA Social Media.
Striker Barr, who has transferred his goal-getting reputation from the PIL to the second-flight like a swan to water, imbues a belief that exists from the top to the bottom of the camp.
The season summary: Newington (2022-23):
- Position: ninth-place
- Ground: Inver Park, Larne, Co Antrim (formerly Solitude, north Belfast)
- Points: 43
- Goals for: 64
- Goals against: 73
- Top scorer: Darren Stuart (15)
- Manager: Paul Hamilton (since July 1, 2021)
The former Portstewart and Ballymacash Rangers man has a joint-league-high five goals for his new club, with Stuart’s brace doubling his tally in domestic action up to four. Between those two, they account for just over half of Newington’s goals to date – coveted 20-year-old duo Paul Donnelly, who is the nephew of the seasoned former Irish League winger Marty Donnelly, and Seamus Duffy also have two apiece.
Stat attack:
Newington, founded in 1979 as Jubilee Olympic, were, up until Rathfriland’s step-up to the Premier Intermediate League for this term, the most recent team to claim Irish League promotion from the Amateur League. They achieved that feat in 2013, just 18 months on from overcoming all the odds to shock Glentoran 1-0 at The Oval in the Irish Cup – considered one of the greatest shocks in the competition’s 140-plus-year history – and followed up with a first-ever entry into the Championship in 2022. Having previously played at The Cliff, Larne FC’s training complex, they returned to the town this year to play their home fixtures in Inver Park and, at the time of writing, are at the highest position in their entire history.
Hamilton has an array of talent at his disposal, while familiar faces of past third-tier meetings like captain Richard Gowdy, left-back Aodhfionn Casey and midfielders Patrick Downey and Tiarnan McNicholl reprise important roles in their formation.
Also back among the pack is Robbie McVarnock; the right-back, an impressive performer for Ballymena United following his initial transfer from The ‘Ton to the Braidmen in January, has galloped back across Shanes Hill to equip himself in green once again. Let there be no doubt as to the danger factor around this institution.
But there is also a no-fear culture around Bangor.
When on the emotional roller-coaster of being above the intermediate level for the first time in seven years – and, fundamentally, doing well within it – you feel like you can take anyone.
Stat attack:
Last week’s goalless draw saw Ben Cushnie exceed 3,000 competitive minutes across his career to date; he has two goals and an assist in 38 minutes of football for Bangor.
A fourth clean sheet came as a source of satisfaction to Lee Feeney and his staff last week; such a pillar behind last term’s triumphs.
Flying forward:
Although he was not able to add to his brace against Ballinamallard the previous week, Ben Cushnie is conveying the sense of a player getting up to speed in Bangor colours. Having turned 22 last month, the Glentoran loanee was lively against H&W Welders and will be ambitious in the pursuit to maintain his positive form. Image from Jordan Connolly/Life Through A Lens NI.
While no one was to apply the killer blow before referee Michael McKenna sounded his whistle for the final time in east Belfast, the fact that the opposition was shut out meant that, where in other scenarios the point may have been lost, it instead felt like a gain.
“Obviously we started the game very slow and it took us to half-time to regroup and get back into the game and do what we’re good at, so as well as we got to 15 minutes (of the second half) and we pushed on from there,” reflected Seanna Foster, the right wing-back giving his immediate reaction to what had ensued.
“That’s what the game’s all about, to get three points, and no one could do it, so yeah, I’d say a draw’s a fair result”
Seanna Foster felt a draw was the correct outcome of the contest between Bangor and H&W Welders last week
“Both teams threw everything they had at each other and no one could put the ball in the back of the net at the end of the day.
“That’s what the game’s all about, to get three points, and no one could do it, so yeah, I’d say a draw’s a fair result.
The quotes section:
“Obviously we started the game very slow and it took us to half-time to regroup and get back into the game and do what we’re good at, so as well as we got to 15 minutes (of the second half) and we pushed on from there. Both teams threw everything they had at each other and no one could put the ball in the back of the net at the end of the day” – Bangor’s Seanna Foster gave a magnanimous reflection on the goalless draw with H&W Welders last week. Image from Sarah Harkness.
“You’re looking at positives, we’d that much chances and we just couldn’t put one in the net, but you look at the other side, we didn’t concede as well which is a big positive.
“Keeping clean sheets is massive and that’s what won us titles last year.”
“You look at the other side, we didn’t concede as well which is a big positive”
Right wing-back Seanna Foster praised Bangor’s defensive resolve to claim a point from the contest with H&W Welders
The Belfast fan favourite, who has already notched up a couple of assists since his return for a second season on loan from Cliftonville, has delivered in the same high-octane style that defined his displays for much of last season’s double-winning exploits.
An insatiable winning mentality is conveyed from Feeney and has had a trickle-down effect through the team.
When that comes to fruition, the spirits heighten.
Where the Kilkeel supremo will have a void to fill, though, is in midfield.
Lewis Harrison’s red card, issued following a second yellow awarded in the final minute of regulation for an adjudged high boot, means that the club captain will be absent from this weekend’s tussle.
Feeney does, however, had ample options in the centre of the park; Dylan O’Kane, Jack Henderson and Karl Devine are a capable pool to call upon, and can each chip in with important contributions in their own ways.
Strength in depth in midfield:
While Lewis Harrison’s sending-off perhaps has made Lee Feeney ask a question or two he rather would have avoided in advance of kick-off against Newington, the options he has at his disposal in Jack Henderson (pictured), Karl Devine and Dylan O’Kane mean he has the options at his disposal to cover. Image from Gary Carson.
While defenders Gareth Beattie and Ryan Arthur are still on the treatment table, and the sense of excitement grows as to when deadline-day loan arrival from Larne Ali Omar will make his Bangor bow, the manager’s focus is on gaining results in the here and now.
History will also tell him to expect goalmouth action at both ends.
| Playr-Fit Championship | Matchday Eight (23/9/23) | |
| Annagh United | vs | Institute |
| Bangor | vs | Newington |
| Dergview | vs | Knockbreda |
| Dundela | vs | Ards |
| Harland and Wolff Welders | vs | Ballyclare Comrades |
| Portadown | vs | Ballinamallard United |
To pick from some of the previous duels, this is a fixture that has taken the respective sets of supporters through all the motions.
Everything from the good, like a 1-0 Bangor victory at Clandeboye Park in April 2022, to the bad – a 5-0 home hammering literally a week later – to the heartbreaking, such as that 5-3 extra-time loss in the Steel and Sons Cup semi-final of November 2021, to the utterly mad – how about that 5-5 draw in February 2020, where BOTH teams blew two-goal leads in a 10-goal thriller just before the Covid curtailment?
History lesson:
Yeah, quite a lot of history. Bangor and Newington games tend to produce goals; there were five at Solitude in February 2022, eight in 110 minutes’ worth of action at Seaview in November 2021 and TEN in a February 2020 meeting (left) that ended in a share of the spoils. The last five meetings have produced three wins for the Swans and two for the Seasiders. Image from Gary Carson.
The Championship is unpredictable, they say.
This fixture is unpredictable.
Maybe it is an elevated pedestal than it was before, but here’s to hoping that the drama and theatre has not been left behind on that climb up the mountain.
Reserves eye extension to winning streak as side’s focus turns to Junior Shield
Meanwhile, Bangor Reserves divert their focus to a cup context for the first time this season.
Following a hot start that has seen the Under-20s scoop up three wins out of three in the Championship/PIL Development League, the side are on their way to Antrim to take on Abbeyview in the First Round of the Junior Shield.
David Downes has overseen yet more progress for the second string, with opening victories over Ballymacash Rangers, PSNI and Limavady United yielding 19 goals between the curtain-raising trio and nine points out of nine.
This weekend, they face a different kind of opposition.
Abbeyview, who play in the BSML Division One alongside the likes of Harryville Homers and Ahoghill Thistle, will ask fresh questions of the Seasiders, with progression to the next round firmly on the agenda.
Downes, whose confidence in his players never wanes, has been delighted by the displays to this point and will maintain high expectations that they can go and get the job done. He also hopes to see the goal-getting exploits of Charley Craig and Jay Boyd continue – the two attackers were the tormentors-in-chief of Limavady last weekend, with Craig’s brace supplementing Boyd’s finish in that 3-2 success at the Rathmore Road Showgrounds.
Kick-off at Abbeyview’s home stage, Antrim Forum, is at 1:30pm on Saturday, September 23.
And as well as facing the BSML Division One’s third-placed side, this weekend saw Downes and his charges learn their next opponents in the Junior Cup.
After Glebe Rangers Reserves withdrew from the competition, Bangor automatically headed into the Second Round, and another adversary from the north coast lies in wait – albeit on home soil this time – in Limavady Rugby FC.
The NWJL’s current second-placed team, who overcame Mountfield 6-0 in their First Round tie last Saturday, will visit Clandeboye Park on Saturday, October 7.
Featured image from Gary Carson.
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