By Lewis Bennett
Mid Ulster Ladies 2 – Bangor Ladies 1
niwfa championship
BANGOR Ladies are all but assured second place in the NIWFA Championship despite falling to defeat in last week’s trip to Mid Ulster Ladies.
The Seasiders may have been beaten by the in-form Co Tyrone outfit at Stangmore Park last Friday night, but they left the game knowing they require merely two more points to put the seal on the runners-up spot.
Sion Swifts Ladies have been confirmed as champions and are well out of reach, but Bangor appear home in second, with just two matchdays to go in the second tier.
For third-placed Greenisland Women to usurp Rory Hamill’s side in the standings, they would need to win all three of their remaining matches and hope the Yellows lose their upcoming clashes against Ballyclare Comrades and Ballymoney United.
Bangor’s case was helped by the fact that they were awarded the points after their home match with St James’ Swifts Ladies was postponed on August 12.
That came as a major boost and meant they were not left too disheartened following their narrow loss at Mid Ulster last time out.
Bangor recorded their biggest win of the campaign in the reverse fixture in May, when they ran out 7-0 winners at Clandeboye Park, with Olivia Marshall bagging a hat-trick and Amber Dempster, Amanda Morton, Laurie Bell and Naomi Donnan also on target.
Mid Ulster were rooted to the bottom of the table at that stage and looked the favourites to drop down into NIWFA Division One, but they are a different animal now, with victory over marking their fifth maximum-point haul in a row.
The victory all but saved them from the drop, fighting back after Marshall’s opener on 11 minutes had set Bangor on their way early on.
Hamill’s charges entered the game in buoyant mood, on the back of securing their spot in the MFC Super Cup semi-finals with a 6-3 triumph over Strabane Athletic Ladies four days earlier, and looked in good stead to make it two wins in a week.
The hosts had other ideas, though, and were level just 13 minutes later, when midfielder Eimear McGarrity restored parity.
It remained deadlocked until the break, but Mid Ulster required only six minutes to plunder what proved to be the winner after the restart, as McGarrity found the net for her second of the night.
The home side saw things out thereafter and made sure the three points stayed with them, elevating them to seventh in the standings and in with a shout of securing a top-half place.
It was a second loss in three league matches for Bangor, but they will fancy their chances of bouncing back when they travel to Dixon Park to face Ballyclare in their final away day of the season next Wednesday.
Elsewhere, the Seasiders have learned that they will also take on the Comrades in the semi-finals of the MFC Super Cup.
Ballyclare overcame NIWFA Division 2 side Ballynahinch Olympic Ladies in their quarter-final encounter on the same night Bangor defeated Strabane, setting up the last-four tie at Clandeboye Park.
Ballymena United Women will host Sion Swifts Ladies at the Warden Street Showgrounds in the other semi-final, with the dates for those matches to be confirmed in due course.
Caption: Olivia Marshall opened the scoring in Bangor Ladies’ defeat to Mid Ulster Ladies.
