ALTHOUGH Bangor were not able to break down a resolute Institute defence to extend their Championship lead on Saturday afternoon, Lee Feeney was proud of his side’s efforts.
The Bangor manager has seen his team twice humbled at the Brandywell in previous visits, but on this occasion the front footed approach from the Seasiders was clear, even if they could not find a decisive strike.
That approach pleased Feeney who has urged his side to continue with that level of performance over the remaining eight league fixtures this season.
“I told the boys at full time that I was really proud of their performance on Saturday,” he revealed.
“I’ve been proud of them over the last seven or eight games – their performances have been solid and consistently good which they deserve praise for.
“On Saturday we just lacked that bit of quality in the final third and we maybe looked a bit tired when it came to the decisive moments in attack.
“But I thought we dominated the game and were on the front foot the whole game. We picked up second balls and I was delighted with the performance.
“If we keep performing like that we’ll pick up our results.”
With Ben Arthurs and Matthew Ferguson in joint second place in the top goalscorers chart with 18 goals apiece, it’s no surprise that Bangor are the leading scorers in the Championship. But after a sixth consecutive clean sheet in the league, the Seasiders are now just two goals behind Annagh United’s meanest defence.
Those clean sheets have coincided with a switch to a back four in defence as well as the arrival of goalkeeper Patrick Solis Grogan at the end of January from Dungannon Swifts – and Feeney credits his defensive units’ ‘obsession’ with stopping the other team from scoring as a major reason for their impressive form.
“They take great pride in how they defend and they make sure that everyone does their job in front of them,” he said.
“It’s a real collective effort but the players deserve all the credit for it.
“They are obsessed with keeping clean sheets and it’s a great mentality to have. You can see it in the way we defend, there’s a real desire not to give anything away to the opposition.”
