McNamara captained the side to their sixth win in seven games

Bangor up the tempo

Bangor 5, Wellington Rec. 3

Seasiders on course for record breaking season

Bangor Ladies, the ladies section of Bangor Football Club have upped the tempo on the sides trailing them, with their latest result and are poised for a record breaking season after an impressive 5-3 win last Tuesday (16th) over Wellington Recreational at Bloomfield Road. This, their sixth league win in seven outings, sees the club maintain top spot in the table with 19 points at the half way stage of the NIWFA Coca Cola divisional championships.

With seven games left for the current league leaders, its worth recording that the club have now banked their highest league points tally since 2006 - with still half of the season to go!
The Seasiders need just one more point from their remaining seven matches to set a new club record for the Sammy Mellon sponsored NIWFA team. In addition, the squad need just 9 more goals to also set a history-high number of goals converted in one season, topping the 40 scored in season 2008 – the club have recorded an impressive 32 goals in just seven games so far.

The club continue to lift the bar with regard to PBs – the most unanswered goals in a league game came against Abbey Villa when the Bangor side netted 8 in a row. The club have also won 10 of the last eleven consecutive games and have scored at least once in a run stretching back to July 30th, 2008!

With Clandeboye Park now closed for important maintenance work, the squad faced Wellington Rec. at the Bloomfield Road council pitches on Tuesday evening. Although dry, it was quite a stormy evening – once again the surface would play a significant part in the thriller that followed.

The game got underway at 7.30 with Bangor kicking off attacking the Groomsport end. Andy Craig, whose squad had been depleted with a mounting injury crisis had only twelve players available on the night to face the team currently in third place just 4 points off the leaders. Squad: Jenny Boyd; Paula Dougherty, Valerie McKibbin, Rachel Bates, Jackie Price; Christina McNamara, Petra Armstrong, Lauren McAteer, Carolyn Scott; Dee Savage, Natasha Lee. Sub: Trish Webb.

Natasha Lee gave the Seasiders the perfect start, with the perfect goal - the first of her hat-trick

The Seasiders got off to a perfect start, with what could only be described as the perfect goal – almost straight from the kick off. Some neat passing from Armstrong through to Scott on the left side of midfield.

The league’s joint top scorer slipped the ball through for the talented teenager Natasha Lee whose first touch got the ball out from under her feet and her second was an absolute bullet of a shot. From the moment it left her right foot it was destined for the very top corner with the Wellington defence totally flatfooted by the velocity of the strike. 1-0.

Wellington stunned; the buoyant home side continued their bright start forcing their Larne visitors to drop very deep. Bangor in control continued to threaten, Savage created a half chance, then McNamara forced a good save.On 27 minutes Bangor went close, Lee a constant danger, working off Savage put McNamara through and her drive across the goal just needed the faintest of touches.

Christina McNamara - 2008 Player of the Year - again enjoying a brilliant season

With the Seasiders in control and causing Wellington all sorts of problems, the visiting defence buckled, the referee spotting an infringement immediately awarded a spot kick to the home side.

Defender Bates, currently enjoying her football was happy to step up and confidently swept in her first goal for the club, an unstoppable drive to double the home advantage and give Bangor an important 2 goal cushion.

With half time approaching, the home team were very comfortable and playing some attractive stuff. Armstrong and McAteer had bossed the middle of the park, giving Bangor a firm hold of the game with good the supply to the flanks, which Wellington found difficult to contain.

Almost right on the halftime whistle, reserve keeper Boyd, in for Finegan, was unfortunately caught out by a high hanging ball swung in from the right side by Natasha Boyd. The high bounce of the ball off the hard ground cruelly looped in over her right hand and under the crossbar.

The game at 2-1 was nicely poised at the interval – Wellington boosted by getting the goal, came out and had a go at the home team in the opening 10 minutes. But the visitors were unable to break down the solid defensive quartet of Price, McKibbin, Bates and Dougherty.

Up front Armstrong then hit a spectacular effort which struck the inside of the post and spun tantalisingly across the six-yard box, producing a goal line scramble. Both Bangor strikers involved with the ball eventually being poked in – but the referee adjudged the ball was illegally struck while still in the goalkeeper grasp and never gave it.

With Bangor still looking for the third goal – the game started to unravel with the first dismissal of the evening. Although the offence was not in any way cynical it was a red and the referee had no real choice but to produce the card.

However, the resulting spot kick was rattled fiercely against the bottom of the left-hand post and quickly ushered out for a corner – which Bangor also cleared.

With the home team reduced in numbers and forced to reshuffle, the visitors sensed the opportunity to get back into a game which had been slipping away from them - the sending off obviously switched the initiative back to the visitors.

However the Seasiders were quick to restore their 2 goal advantage, Scott in a very rich vein was once again in the right place at the right time and coolly made it 3-1 just 15 minutes into the second half.

With a two goal cushion the home side looked to have secured the points – but Wellington responded – and again it was yet another penalty kick, awarded for yet another hand ball decision – this time luck didn’t favour the Seasiders and Wellington's Rachael White reduced the deficit to one.

Again the response from the Seasiders certainly crushed any hint of a comeback. McNamara dropped in at right back and Dougherty shifted in beside the reliable McKibbin, with Price at left back more than holding her own.

Petra Armstrong with McAteer controlled the middle of the park.

With Bangor still playing some good football – Lee came inside from the left wing and despatched another peach of an effort, which found the bottom corner giving Bangor their fourth of the evening and rewarding her industry with a second on the night.

On the hour Boyd produced the first of two saves, which would effectively keep the pressure off Bangor, who had two glorious chances to snatch breakaway goals – a powerful effort from Savage rattled the upright.

Bangor lifted the tempo again, the midfield partnership of McAteer and Armstrong very much the engine room – Armstrong working hard chasing down every loose ball and McAteer adding the guile and vision to keep moving the ball about.

The drama continued as the referee awarded the fourth penalty of the evening, and the second red card, as a Wellington player was duly ordered off with 18 minutes to go.

This one was duly hammered into the top corner by the inform Natasha Lee to complete a fantastic hat-trick for the Bangor Academy teenager, who has now bagged 9 goals this season in seven games.

Having got the cushion of a 5–2 lead – the game moving towards the last 15, Wellington immediately hit back, Kirsten McCully on hand to snatch another goal to make it 5-3 which thankfully proved to be just a consolation. Bangor effectively cancelled out the visitors in the final 10 and thankfully picked up the 3 points to go 5 clear at the top.

Certainly a game which was full of incident and debate – but could not be described as a bad tempered contest, with not one yellow card though the night had seen four penalties and two sending offs. Three out of the four penalties were awarded for hand ball offences – which both clubs would perhaps argue were unavoidable. The other two were correctly awarded for lapses in discipline and concentration.

Andy Craig, manager of Bangor Ladies: “This was one of our most impressive performances as a unit this season, every one of the players contributing to what was a very good, hard earned result. We put in a lot of effort all over the park, used the ball better than we have done all season and passed it like we know we can.

Bangor's Paula Dougherty finished the game at centre half

“The obvious disappointment was the red card, which made us work harder, but the squad have shown the determination and the character to respond to every challenge we have faced this season.

“Wellington are a very good side, and to put a bit of breathing distance between ourselves and the club in third place was important and the 3 point pick up, a testament to the work being done off the pitch. The result that it produced, shows the quality we have on it."

Bangor will now welcome Ballynahinch to the North Down coast next Tuesday (23rd) for a quarter final divisional cup match. The game is scheduled to take place at Bloomfield Road, Bangor and will feature the launch of the official kit of the ladies section of Bangor Football Club.

Sponsored by Sammy Mellon and Sons, local Hyundai dealers, who are long established supporters of local football and their endorsement as sponsors of the ladies section at Clandeboye Park is further recognition of the sport of ladies football.

Natasha Lee of Bangor Ladies hit three at Bloomfield Road

Last Edited on 1-Aug-2009 5:29 AM