NEWRY CITY 2-1 BANGOR , JJB Sports Premiership.

Newry Showgrounds, Saturday 18th April 2009
Match Report by Neil Watson 

An incident packed five minutes of injury time livened up a dull encounter at Newry Showgrounds on Saturday.

Trailing to a first half Richard Clarke strike, Bangor thought they’d snatched a point when Andy Morrow equalised in the third minute of the signalled two minutes of injury time. Bangor hearts were broken though two minutes later in controversial circumstances when Niall Henderson’s driven corner was caught waist-high by goalkeeper Ryan Brown. With the Bangor custodian ready to punt the ball up-field referee Simon Creaney awarded a goal on the advice of his assistant referee who had raised his flag to signal that the ball had cross the line. Bangor players and management protested furiously about the goal, but nothing they could say or do could change the referee’s decision as the Seasiders faced up to their eighth defeat in ten matches.

Bangor manager Colin McCurdy changed his team after the mid-week humiliation to Institute with Darren Lockhart, Chris Boyd and Aaron McKee taking their place in the starting line-up with Nigel Boyd, Stephen Whiteside and David Irvine all dropping out of the match-day 16. Both sides struggled to find their feet early on with only Niall Henderson forcing Ryan Brown into a comfortable save from distance.

Bangor’s best move of the half arrived in the 25th minute when Marty Verner found himself in space on the left of the Newry penalty area. The Bangor striker committed the Newry goalkeeper before clipping a cross towards Andy Morrow. The Bangor captain saw his header blocked on the line before Dean Youle, playing in a more attacking wing back position, had his follow-up effort scrambled clear from the goal-line.

The home side made Bangor pay for those chances when, after a patient spell of possession football, Richard Clarke found enough time and space to drill a low 20 yard shot into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Brown in the 31st minute.

Chris Morgan almost doubled his side’s lead in the 38th minute, but after getting past the Bangor defence, his shot from a tight angle was well blocked by Brown.

On the stroke of half time, Marty Verner rose well to meet Dean Youle’s cross, but the Bangor striker’s header was straight at Coleman in the Newry goal.

Half-time: 1 – 0

Marty Verner was proving to be Bangor’s best goal threat, but his volley in the 64th minute flew just over the crossbar. At the other end of the pitch, Paul Keenan did well to evade the sprawling Ryan Brown but Chris Boyd was on hand to race back and scramble the forward’s shot behind as it was destined for the net in the 78th minute.

Newry City had two clear cut chances to seal the game in the dying minutes. Tony Anderson held off the challenge of Darren Lockhart, but the forward could only direct his shot past Brown and against the foot of the post. Moments later, the same man found himself in front of an empty net after a Morgan pass, but somehow the Newry man managed to fall over the ball as the chance was lost.

The home side looked to have paid the price for those misses when Andy Morrow superbly lobbed the ball over Coleman, who was no more than a couple of yards off his line, to notch up his tenth goal of the season. But Bangor’s joy was short lived when Kevin Keegan won his side a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time that Niall Henderson somehow managed to curl over the goal-line with the outside of his right foot.

Full-time: 2 – 1

Bangor: Brown, C Boyd, Lockhart, McMenamin, Youle (’86 Cleary), Anderson, Magennis (’75 McDowell), McKee (’86 Hand), Melly, Morrow, Verner. Subs not used: Whitford, Mann. Scorer: Morrow (90+3) Booked: Magennis, Lockhart, McMenamin

Newry City: Coleman, King, Black, Curran, Friars, Clarke (‘88 Cassidy), Keegan, Henderson, Morgan, Ferguson, Keenan (’88 Anderson). Subs not used: Walsh, Gowdy, Donegan

Scorers: Clarke (31), Henderson (90+5)

Referee: Mr S. Creaney