SATURDAY’S point at Inver Park was as hard earned as any that Bangor have picked up this season as they stretched their unbeaten Premiership run to four games. An early Ben Arthurs goal put Bangor in front before Conor McKendry struck for Larne in the second half to level the scores. Lee Feeney’s men had to dig deep to hold on to their point as the 2023/24 Premiership Champions applied pressure in search of a winner, but Bangor defended well and Feeney was delighted to come away with something to show for their performance.“It was a hard fought point that I thought we deserved,” said the Bangor manager.“We defended well and we had to. When you go to Inver Park, even the top teams will have to defend really well because you will be put under pressure.“But we’ve done that a few times this season, particularly when I look back at the victory over Coleraine, and it’s something we enjoy doing as a team.”While Bangor had to defend well and frustrate their opponents, it wasn’t a case of ten men behind the ball for Lee Feeney who was pleased that his side carried an attacking threat, particularly in the first half. He continued: “We troubled Larne with some of our attacking play and that was really pleasing.“It’s probably only our defeat against Glentoran this season when we didn’t carry a threat, but I think we have troubled every other team we have played.“We had a game plan and Larne struggled at times to deal with it. The disappointing thing is that we maybe haven’t been given the respect for our performance – I know Larne will see it as a missed opportunity for them and two points dropped.“But we were up against a team with probably four times the budget we have at our disposal, so we knew we would have to suffer and play without the ball for periods of the game – and we dealt with that really, really well.“As far as I’m concerned there’s no right or wrong way to play football matches if you have something to show for it at full time, and we deserved our point.”With Oisin Devlin unable to play against Larne and captain Lewis Harrison recovering from injury, Feeney called upon the services of Robbie Garrett in midfield.The 37 year-old hadn’t started a Premiership match for the Seasiders since mid August, but the former-Linfield star showed he still has plenty to offer with a performance that pleased his manager.“I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch,” enthused Feeney.“Robbie Garrett is a massive part of our club on and off the pitch. All the boys in the dressing room really look up to him and I was delighted with his performance and delighted for him too.“He hasn’t been playing as much as he would maybe like as we’ve been playing with a different midfield recently but he looks after himself and trains hard so I knew he would be ready when called upon.“His experience is priceless and he was top quality on Saturday night against a really good Larne team who had lots of runners in midfield. He was so tuned in and focused on his job, it was a really top class display.”
