INSTITUTE 1-0 BANGOR , JJB Sport Premiership.

Drumahoe, Saturday 1st November 2008
Match Report by Neil Watson 

An 84th minute Paul Brown goal was all the separated the two sides in this hard-fought JJB Irish Premiership encounter. With chances at a premium throughout, one goal always seemed to be all that was needed for a win, and that proved to be the case as Brown scored for the third time against Bangor this season, closing the gap between the two sides to only two points.

The first opportunity in the match came in the 13th minute, when Insititute goalkeeper Michael Doherty threw himself to his left to push away Dom Melly's rasping 25-yard free kick.

Bangor were dealt a blow in the 33rd minute when Nigel Boyd hobbled off the pitch. He was replaced at left back by Anto Walsh, but the make-shift Bangor defence, superbly led by Mark Gracey, coped well with the aerial presence of the Institute attack.

Moments before half-time, referee David Malcolm was in the thick of the action as he booked Neil Harkin for diving inside the penalty area as the Institute man tried to round Andrew Plummer. At the other end of the pitch, Malcolm waved away strong Bangor appeals for a peanlty when Marty Verner appeared to be wrestled to the ground by David Ogilby as the Bangor striker shaped to shoot.

The home side almost borke the deadlock in first half injury time, but Declan Devin's close range header was delfected just wide by Dean Youle.

Half-time: 0 - 0

Just after half-time, Marty Verner was unlucky to see his 20 yard volley fly just wide of the target after the home defence failed to clear the danger.

On the hour mark, some committed defending kept the scores level when Andy Morrow, Glenn Hand and Darren Lockhart all saw their shots blocked in a goalmouth scramble.

Paul Brown served up a reminder of his threat in the 65th minute when the imposing forward collected a long punt up field, but he could only send his 20 yard shot wide of the target.

Minutes later at the other end, Aaron McKee sent a close range header just wide from a Dom Melly corner as the visitors searched for the opening goal.

Bangor's best chance came in the 78th minute when Marty Verner showed some clever touches to skip past the challenges of three defenders, but with the Bangor striker losing his balance, his 16 yard shot was well blocked by Doherty.

The winning goal arrived in the 84th minute when the Bangor defence failed to clear a John O'Loughlin corner. The ball fell to Paul Brown at the back post where the forward shaped to shoot before cutting inside a Bangor challenege and firing the ball low into the bottom corner through a crowd of bodies.

Paul Brown had the chance to add to Bangor's misery a minute later but his close range corner was superbly pushed over the bar by Andrew Plummer.

Full-time: 1 - 0

Bangor: Plummer, McKee, Boyd (Walsh '33), Youle, Gracey, Hand (McConnell ' 86), Anderson, Lockhart, Verner, Morrow, Melly. Subs not used: Irvine, McMenamin, Sharrett

Booked: Lockhart, Verner

Institute: Doherty, Ruddy, Seydak, McLaughlin, Ogilby, O'Loughlin, Quigley ('81 McLean), Lowry, Devin ('90 McCreadie), Brown, Harkin ('70 Ramsey). Subs not used: Keys, Ryan

Scorer: Brown ('84) Booked: Ruddy, Harkin, Seydak