BANGOR 1-0 DUNDELA, CARNEGIE FIRST DIVISION

Clandeboye Park, Tuesday 19th February 2008
Match Report by Neil Watson

A 73rd minute strike from the in-form Marty Verner was enough to give Bangor a valuable 3 points in this hard fought 1st Divison match. Latching on to Andy Forsythe's corner, Verner directed the ball high into the net to mark his 7th goal in 5 starts and catapult his side to 2nd in the league table.

Bangor began the match on the front foot and had the ball in the net after only 2 minutes only for referee Hall to rule out Andy Forsythe's header from close range for an apparent foul on a defender.

Dominic Melly, replacing the suspended Irvine in the centre of midfield, forced goalkeeper James Taylor into a fine save in the 5th minute as the 'keeper had to throw himself low to his right to push the midfielder's 25-yard shot round the post.

Moments later Marty Verner had the ball in the back of the Dundela net only for the referee to rule the goal out contentiously for an offiside decision.

Dundela's first chance arrived in the 15th minute when Willie McIlroy reacted quickest to Brian Hylands' long throw, but the srtiker's first time hooked shot was well held by Ryan Brown 1.

The prolific Mattie Burrows had two chances in quick succesion after 20 minutes when he first poked an effort wide of the post in a crowded penalty area before fluffing his lines as he bore down on Ryan Brown 1 having been set up by Tommy Parker.

It was Dundela's turn to have the ball in the net on the half hour mark only for the goal to be ruled out for offside in bizarre circumstances. Having danced past a number of Bangor challenges, Burrows clipped the ball over Brown and towards the goal. The ball was destined for the far corner only for the offside McIlroy to touch the ball into the net and leave the referee with no alternative but to rule the goal out.

Having had to defend, Bangor found themselves back in attack close to half-time. Andy Morrow collected a well directed Rezai pass before rolling the ball wide to Ryan Brown 2. The speedy winger did well to outrace his man and swing in a low cross from the byeline. A Dundela defender did well to get to the low cross, but the clearance cannoned off Verner and bounced just wide of the post.

Mattie Burrows was again at the centre of Dundela's attacks, and the soon-to-be Glentoran striker forced Brown into a fine save from close range as the goalkeeper did well to hold onto the low shot as McIlroy closed in.

Half-time: 0 - 0

Burrows continued to look dangerous immediately after the break as he did well to beat Carl Rezai at the bye-line. The striker cut back before unleashing a powerful shot which needed to be beaten away by the alert Brown.

The descisive goal of the match was to arrive in the 73rd minute when Verner showed his instinctive instinct inside the penalty area to hook the ball home.

That goal spurred Dundela into action, and the visitors would have found themselves back on level terms but for a fantastic save from Ryan Brown 1 in the 73rd minute. A long Hyland's throw in from the left found it's way to Tommy Parker. The midfielder, pushed into a forward role, sent a header looping towards the top corner only for Brown to hang in the air and claw the ball away to safety.

The Bangor 'keeper found himself well placed 2 minutes later to hold onto a Burrows' close range header following an inswinging Ryan Marsh corner.

Ryan Brown 2 had a great chance to seal the victory in the 87th minute as the winger raced through on goal to latch onto Morrow's through ball. Brown advanced and composed himself, but Taylor was off his line quickly to block the left footed shot.

Dundela threw everyone up front in the last couple of minutes as they looked for an equaliser, but the Bangor defence, superbly marshalled by Craig Gilmore and Paul Harbinson, held firm for an important victory.

Full-time: 1 - 0

Bangor: Brown 1, Rezai, Bailie, Gilmore, Bell, Harbinson, Brown 2, Melly, Morrow, Verner, Forsythe. Subs not used: Smith, Munn

Scorer: Verner ('73)

Dundela: Taylor, Walker (Mannus), Hylands, Alexander, Murray, Parker, Murphy, Gourley, Burrows, McIlroy (Marsh), Hill (Kerr). Subs not used: Guiney, Miskelly

Referee: Mr I Hall

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