By Neil Watson
BANGOR manager Lee Feeney believes his players should be confident after they hit four second-half goals to beat H&W Welders in the County Antrim Shield on Tuesday night.
After a tightly-contested first half at the Blanchflower Stadium, Bangor grabbed the initiative early in the second half, thanks to quickfire goals from Lewis Harrison and Lewis Francis.
Jay Boyd added a third, before Lucas McRoberts rounded off the scoring off with his first goal for the club.
The Seasiders needed to bounce back from the 4-0 hammering at the hands of Carrick Rangers, and a quick start to the game almost paid off when Reece Neale forced a corner inside the opening minute.
Mackenzie Strachan’s in-swinging delivery was met by Lewis Francis, but the centre half was just wide of the mark with his header.
Four minutes later, an industrious run from Jack O’Mahony saw a Welders defender bundle the ball against the base of the post, before a scramble ensued, with the ball eventually lumped clear.
A brave block from Alfie Mitchell prevented Jack Reilly’s well-struck shot from reaching the goal and Joshua Kee dragged his shot wide of the mark as the home side enjoyed a period of dominance mid-way through the half.
Bangor posed a threat on the break however, and McRoberts did well to hold off a defender and force Jason Healy into a smart save. From the resultant corner, Neale sent a 20-yard volley whistling past the upright.
Just like the first half, the second period started quickly, with Patrick Solis Grogan pushing Michael Harkin’s looping effort on to the face of the crossbar.
That was a let-off for Bangor, who took the lead two minutes later, when Neale’s delivery was powered home by the head of Lewis Harrison from close range.
Boyd and Harrison both went close immediately after but, within six minutes of taking the lead, Bangor doubled their advantage, as Francis met Strachan’s corner to head home.
With the Seasiders hungry for more, Boyd added a third after 58 minutes, hooking another Neale delivery into the back of the net, doing well to find the far corner under pressure.
Despite appearing out of sight at 3-0, Bangor kept pushing forward, and summer signing McRoberts opened his account after 71 minutes.
Substitute Ben Cushnie exchanged passes with McRoberts on the edge of the box, and the former Ayr United striker found the bottom corner with a powerful drive.
With no points from their opening three league games, the Seasiders found comfort in the County Antrim Shield, striking four times against the Championship highfliers.
It was a positive showing from the Irish Premiership side, and Feeney wants his men to take confidence from their County Antrim Shield win into the league.
“Tuesday’s win should give the players confidence,” he said. “We spoke before the game about everything that we wanted to do, and the players took that on board and executed it really well.
“I gave players opportunities on Tuesday night, and they took them. That now gives me a good headache for Saturday, in terms of my team selection, but that’s the quality we have in the squad.
“With playing every Saturday and Tuesday for the first three weeks of September, we’re going to need every player to be fit and ready to go because there are some tough games ahead.
Feeney added: “We knew we had to regroup, we had to react and respond after Saturday because that defeat really, really hurt us.
“I was happy with the clean sheet, happy that our strikers scored goals and happy that we executed our game plan.”
