By Neil Watson
BANGOR return to Clandeboye Park this Saturday afternoon in an important Premiership clash against Portadown.
Both sides are locked on 28 points in mid-table with the Seasiders sitting a place above the Ports in the standings, thanks to a marginally superior goal difference.
With little to separate the two sides, and with both teams looking to move further away from the relegation zone, this weekend’s encounter could carry significance for the remainder of the season.
While Lee Feeney has set his side up for back to back fixtures with Linfield at Windsor Park over the last two weeks, the Bangor manager has warned that this Saturday’s battle will be just as tough a challenge for his men.
“It’s another game where we are going to have to be at our best,” cautioned Feeney.
“We are going to have to perform and work hard, and we will need a bit of luck to go our way.
“Portadown have a great squad and they have made some good signings in January to add to that. It’ll be a difficult game for us, but it’s one that we will be going out to pick up three points from.”
The Bangor manager paid tribute to the support his side have received recently, particularly the backing given to the Seasiders by more than 320 travelling supporters at Windsor Park a fortnight ago.
Having seen their team dismantled by the league champions a fortnight ago, Feeney wanted his side to put up much more of a fight and give the Bangor supporters something to shout about as a reward for their loyalty.
“I thought our support for the last two games was superb,” he said.
“Particularly after losing the first game heavily, it would have been easy for supporters to stay away but they turned up again and got behind the lads throughout the game.
“I knew we would be a different animal for the second visit to Windsor Park and I was really pleased that we made it hard for Linfield on Saturday,” he said.
“I wanted us to put up a fight and I thought we did just that and everyone can be proud of the efforts.
“We were unlucky over the course of the game, I thought. The performance deserved a goal which would have given us the opportunity of having a rattle at extra time but that wasn’t to be.
“We learned a lot over the two games and that will stand us in good stead for this weekend,” added Feeney.
“But fair play to our supporters because we’ve had a tremendous support all season – and we’re going to need them again come Saturday. There’s a big run-in coming up and we’re going to need everyone behind us.”
