MATCH REPORT by Neil Watson

Bangor booked their place in the Irish Cup Semi-Finals with a deserved win over Premier League Lisburn Distillery. An early first half goal from Grant Dunlop was enough to seal Bangor’s victory and see them progress to the Semi-Final for the first time since the 1994/1995 season.

The match had a feisty start with Brian Russell being booked for a crunching tackle on Gareth McKeown after only 15 seconds.

With only 6 minutes on the clock, Bangor grabbed the opening goal of the game through Grant Dunlop. Hard working midfielder Jackie Kerr won the ball well in midfield before passing to Jim McCloskey. The former Distillery favourite fed the ball through the heart of the home side’s defence to Grant Dunlop who neatly slid the ball into the net past Matthews.

A minute later, some brave defending denied Ryan Catney a shot on target. As the midfielder lined up to shoot from 20 yards, a Bangor defender deflected the shot wide of the post.

After 10 minutes Phillip Matthews had to be alert to the danger of a 30 yard Camlin free kick. Camlin’s effort was sliced towards his own net by a Distillery defender, but Matthews was able to smoother the ball at the second attempt.

It was another Bangor free kick that almost led to the second goal of the game. Jim McCloskey’s low strike from fully 30 yards struck the inside of the left post before rolling across the goal-line and behind to safety.

Distillery reminded Bangor of their attacking threat after 15 minutes. Darren Armour and Sean Armstrong combined well inside the Bangor penalty area. Before Armstrong could shoot, Ryan Brown had bravely smothered the ball at the feet of the former-Coleraine man.

Bangor were dealt a blow mid way through the first half as centre forward Kenny Camlin hobbled off the pitch to be replaced by John Douglas.

Referee Mark Courtney was then centre of attention as he waved away strong penalty appeals from the Bangor players. Andy Morrow’s neat flick inside the penalty area struck the arm of Wayne Buchanan but to the surprise of everyone, Mark Courtney awarded a corner kick.

Phillip Matthews was then called upon to produce a string of fine saves 10 minutes before half time. The former-Bangor ‘keeper first kept out a dipping McCloskey header from an Officer cross before saving Brian Russell’s acrobatic effort from a Jackie Kerr cross moments later at the second attempt. Matthews had to be on top form to deny David Officer from 25 yards. The left midfielder beat a man before shooting goalwards. Matthews threw himself to his left to push Officer’s stinging shot to safety.

Distillery began the second half looking to improve on their first half performance. However, a sustained period of pressure around the Bangor penalty area failed to stretch Ryan Brown with the Bangor ‘keeper only having to gather a 25 yard effort from Gareth McKeown after 54 minutes.

With 55 minutes played, Distillery looked to change their tactics with a double substitution. McCann and Dickson replaced McKeown and Catney respectively. However, 2 minutes later, Paul Kirk’s plans had to be changed has Darren Armour was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident that left Johnny Cheevers sprawled on the ground.

Ryan McCann came close to scoring with a speculative 30 yard shot. With the wind in his back, the former Linfield player’s shot drifted just wide of the left post.

After 68 minutes, Bangor carved open the Distillery defence once more to create a good opening for McCloskey. Jackie Kerr combined well with Andy Morrow to set-up McCloskey 8 yards from goal on the right. A defender managed to block McCloskey’s effort sending the ball behind for a corner.

From the resulting corner, Andy Massey challenged well in the air to win the ball. The ball fell in the six yard box but fortunately for the home side, it was a Distillery player who hooked the ball clear to safety,

A minute later and it was Brian Russell who was again denied by Phillip Matthews. A cross from the right was headed out straight to Russell 16 yards from goal but the Bangor man’s shot was well tipped over the bar by the impressive Matthews.

John Douglas had a great chance to seal the Bangor victory after 83 minutes. Douglas’ persistence saw him rob a Distillery defender 20 yards from goal. The forward advanced into the penalty area but slid the ball agonisingly wide of the post with Matthews beaten.

With time running out, Distillery pushed forward setting up camp around the Bangor penalty area. Despite winning numerous corners, Distillery couldn’t find the answer to Bangor’s resolute defending and as a consequence, Bangor’s memorable cup run continues.

Bangor: Brown, Feeney, Officer, Cheevers, Massey, Russell, Dunlop (McStravick), Kerr, Morrow, Camlin (Douglas) (Holland), McCloskey.

Scorer: Dunlop (‘6)
Booked: Russell, Massey

L. Distillery: Matthews, McKeown (McCann), Ferguson, Buchanan, Hagan, Armstrong (Kilmartin), Murphy, Thompson, Armour, Catney (Dickson), Muir.

Booked: Thompson, Armstrong, McKeown, Catney, Buchanan
Sent off: Armour

Referee: Mr Mark Courtney

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