NIWFA Championship
Bangor FC Ladies 1
St James’ Swifts Ladies 0
Lewis Bennett at Clandeboye Park
BANGOR FC Ladies Battles both St James’ Swifts Ladies and the elements last Wednesday but weren’t left under the weather after wrapping up a hard-fought 1-0 win in their final home
match of the NIWFA Championship season.
Bruised following the penalty shoot-out defeat by Greenisland Women a few days earlier
which sent them out of the Local Women Sport Super Cup at the semi-final stage, the
Seasiders atoned for that reversal thanks to Amber Dempster’s deft finish eight minutes
from time that settled the outcome here.
Last week’s victory at a rain-and-windswept Clandeboye Park also put an end to a five-game
winless streak in all competitions and, although their hopes of top spot are mathematically
over with just Sion Swifts Ladies left to play on Monday night, a hardworking display across the park resulting in three points was satisfying for match-winner Dempster to be a part of.
“I think we did a really good job against a tough St James’ side,” the veteran striker said.
“I think we played really nice, fluid football from start to finish, we moved the ball well and
obviously took our chance well when it came down to it.
“It wasn’t nice weather, but the weather’s the same for both sides, we obviously both had to
go out in the same conditions and the team did really well.
“We battled well from start to finish, we won the midfield battles in particular which was
really important and everybody worked really hard.”
Top markswoman Dempster’s 38th goal of an historic individual season decided an end-to-end encounter where both sides quite literally threw caution to the wind.
An evenly matched first period saw little by way of clear-cut chances as the teams got the
feel for each other before St James’ – who won the reverse league encounter 4-2 back in
May – began the second half more on the front foot, with substitute Chloe Doak going
closest just after the hour mark when she turned inches past the post having broken into a
one-on-one with Bangor goalkeeper Giulia McLaughlin.
But the hosts weathered the storm unscathed and, on 82 minutes, finally drew first blood
when a punt upfield by McLaughlin was controlled in her stride by Dempster, who applied
the killer touch lacking in the game to that point.
The former Linfield and Cliftonville forward also counts St James’ among her old clubs and
caught them cold, racing in behind to place a clever lob over visiting stopper Leah Heaney
and into the net.
Going into the game, fourth-placed Bangor were six points and two places behind their west
Belfast rivals, but the Seagulls maintained their clean sheet to close the gap in the standings.
Captain Sarah Crooks, another former St James’ player who netted in the 5-1 Super Cup win in Poleglass in June, added: “I think we were a wee bit wounded after Sunday’s loss, especially because it was the semi-final of the cup, so it was great to get a win when we really needed it.
“We kind of had that extra bit of want, just because of Sunday, and we wanted to turn our
season around a bit because we only had three games left.
“It was an all-round very good team performance in tough conditions. It wasn’t great because the ball was moving about in the wind at times, but it was good to get the win and three points.”
After a testing schedule of five games in 14 days, including successive Sunday fixtures against Greenisland and Derry City Women in the Irish Cup quarter-finals the week before, the end of Chris Dougan’s first campaign in the Clandeboye hotseat is now in sight.
The Seasiders, who played Belfast Celtic at Whiterock Leisure Centre last night, face Sion at
the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in their final game of the season on Monday (8pm).
