‘In a way, it’s better than a three or four goal win’
Neil Watson
sport@spectatornewspapers.co.uk
IT WAS far from a routine win that propelled Bangor into a 12-point lead at the top of the Championship on Saturday, but it was one that Lee Feeney enjoyed.
The Bangor manager, already without his suspended captain Lewis Harrison, watched on as the bloodied Tiarnan Mulvenna had to be withdrawn in the first half before Robbie Garrett was shown a red card early in the second half.
But the Seasiders dug in against Harland and Wolff Welders and showed an abundance of determination to hold onto their one-goal advantage and that left Feeney particularly pleased.
“I was delighted with the manner in which we won that game,” he said.
“To a man, the performance was excellent and even though we were up against it, the boys were determined not to give away what they had worked so hard for.
“You don’t always get things your own way in football and we certainly didn’t on Saturday, but how we handled that was so pleasing. In a way, that type of victory is better than a three or four goal win,” he added.
“I’ve spoken before about the depth in the squad but it’s also the versatility that we have which is a massive strength. Marty Bradley has been playing right wing-back but he had to play a central midfield role with Lewis Harrison being suspended.
“Then when Robbie Garrett was sent off we had Ben Cushnie dropping deeper and playing in midfield instead of being more advanced. Reece Neale was able to step out of defence and play in midfield, and by the end Ben Arthurs was almost playing as a left wing-back!
“It’s that versatility and willingness of the players to play in various positions for the benefit of the team that got us over the line on Saturday.”
Feeney continued: “The character was there again on Saturday, but that’s no surprise to me. I know what’s in the dressing room and even when we only had a point after the first two games, the boys were driving each other on and I knew then that they had the right attitude.”
The tense nature of Saturday’s encounter was compounded by two flashpoints – a nasty facial injury to Tiarnan Mulvenna after a challenge that saw Welders keeper Jack Mills booked, and Robbie Garrett sent off for two yellow cards.
While tensions were high at the Blanchflower Stadium, Feeney has no qualms with referee Louise Thompson’s decisions on either of those incidents. Instead the Bangor manager was left frustrated with the referee’s consistency across the 90 minutes.
“In all honesty I have no complaints over Robbie Garrett’s red card and I can understand why the Welders goalkeeper was only booked for the collision with Tiarnan,” he explained.
“Other referees would have produced a red card, and I don’t think anyone would have been surprised because it was a dangerous challenge. But the referee on Saturday deemed it as two players going for the ball and a clash of heads, and I can understand that as it was a difficult decision to make.
“I honestly wouldn’t complain about either of those decisions, but it was the rest of the performance outside of those that frustrated me. I felt that the referee was too card happy and too inconsistent. We were being punished for tackles, and first tackles at that, that the Welders got away with.
“All the smaller things like kicking the ball away and delaying the restart of the game didn’t seem to be applied consistently and that was really disappointing.”
