CLIFTONVILLE 3-3 BANGOR

Pre-Season Friendly - Solitude, Saturday 4th August 2007
Match Report by Neil Watson

A superb second half performance saw Bangor finish their pre-season fixtures with a creditable 3-3 draw with Premier League side Cliftonville.   Two goals from Chris Scannell and a goal from Kieran O’Connor gave the Reds what looked like an unassailable half-time lead.  Bangor had other ideas however, as Paul McDowell and Ryan Brown 2 added to their pre-season tallies before ex-Reds favourite Simon Gribben smashed home a late penalty to seal a remarkable comeback.

Cliftonville found themselves a goal to the good after only 9 minutes when Chris Scannell collected Mark Holland’s pass before brilliantly lobbing the ball over Ryan Brown 1 and into the net from 18 yards.

Bangor, who had struggled to create any chances, had their first effort on the half hour mark.  Paul McDowell cheekily flicked the ball over a Cliftonville defender, allowing Andy Morrow to send a blistering left footed volley just over the cross bar from the edge of the penalty area.

The home side doubled their advantage only a minute later through Chris Scannell.  The forward skilfully beat Emerson before calmly lifting the ball over the on-rushing Ryan Brown 1 to mark his second goal of the game.

Bangor must have feared the worst 4 minutes later when Kieran O’Connor added another goal to what was becoming a rout.  The former-Armagh midfielder reached Murphy’s left wing cross just ahead of Brown 1, giving the player the opportunity to slide the ball into the empty net.

Despite the heavy score line, it was Bangor who finished the half on top.  Ryan Brown 2 raced onto a through ball before setting up David Irvine.  The midfielder composed himself before curling a 14 yard effort against the crossbar.  The ball rebounded to McDowell, but his shot was just about cleared off the goal-line for a corner kick.  Glenn Hand’s resultant corner saw Irvine having a shot blocked on the line forcing another corner.  This time the ball fell to Brown 2, but his snapshot flew just wide of the right hand post.

Colin Beggs was guilty of missing a glorious opportunity for the Seasiders a minute before the interval when the left back badly scuffed his 8 yard effort.  Beggs collected Hand’s right wing cross but after forcing his way past 2 defenders, the defender could only shoot tamely at Connolly.

Half-time: 3 – 0

Bangor began the second half like they ended the first, with Colin Beggs forcing John Connolly into a brilliant save low to his right to push away the Bangor man’s 18 yard shot.

A reward for Bangor’s hard work arrived on the hour mark when Paul McDowell reacted quickest to fire home from just inside the penalty area after some good work from Glenn Hand.

The comeback continued a minute later when Ryan Brown 2 scored his fourth goal of pre-season.  Andy Morrow did well down the right flank to drill in a low cross.  The ball was stabbed clear only as far as Brown who made no mistake in lashing the ball into the bottom left hand corner from 16 yards.

The equalising goal almost arrived in the 68th minute when Colin Beggs rose highest to meet Dominic Melly’s corner from the right.  Unfortunately for Beggs and Bangor, the ball flew over Connolly but crashed against the crossbar before being cleared to safety.

With 5 minutes remaining, a fine spell of passing football culminated when Bangor were awarded a penalty after Andy Forysthe saw his flick handled by Ryan Catney.  Substitute Simon Gribben stepped up to slam the ball high into the roof of the net to seal a fantastic result for the visitors. 

Full-time: 3 – 3

Bangor: Brown 1, Collier, Beggs, Munn (Bailie), Emerson (Harbinson), Bailie (Dunlop), Hand, Irvine (Melly), Morrow, McDowell (Gribben), Brown 2 (Forsythe)
Goal Scorers: McDowell (’60), Brown 2 (’61), Gribben (pen. ’85)

Cliftonville: Connolly, Smyth, R Scannell (Catney), Cleary, O’Hara, Pearce, Holland, O’Connor, C Scannell (Lyons), Murphy, Martin (Gowdy)
Goal Scorers: C Scannell (‘9, ’31), O’Connor (’35)