LEE Feeney admitted he got it wrong in the wake of Bangor’s heavy defeat at Windsor Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Seasiders were blown away by Linfield in their heaviest defeat of the season, and the Bangor manager held his hands up as he looked back ruefully on the formation he used to set his side up.
Missing first team regulars in the form of Mark Haughey, Lewis Harrison, Liam Hassin, Oisin Devlin, Ben Cushnie, Jay Boyd and Kyle Owens, Feeney shuffled his pack and opted for a 4-4-2 formation which included Caomhan McGuinness, making his first start since injury in September, in the heart of the defence.
McGuinness’ comeback was cut short in the first half in another blow to Feeney’s plans but the Bangor boss believes Saturday’s showing was a one off from his depleted side.
“I’m not too hurt about Saturday’s result,” admitted Feeney.
“I know there is a better version of ourselves and I take full responsibility for the performance.
“I changed the formation to go with something that we weren’t familiar with and it didn’t work out. It caused a bit of unsettlement between the players and I can’t fault their effort,” he said.
“We maybe didn’t defend in certain moments as well as we can but we will all learn from that.
“We lost Caomhan McGuinness to injury during the first half. That meant we had a 21 year-old goalkeeper, two teenagers in Alfie Mitchell and Harry Lynch, and another 21 year-old in Lewis Francis playing alongside Reece Neale at the back. It was a very young and inexperienced back line, especially up against a team like Linfield at Windsor Park.
“The goals we conceded were really poor and totally out of character for the way we have defended recently. The formation didn’t help that because the defence weren’t familiar with what was being asked of them and that’s on me.”
While 17 year-old Alfie Mitchell made his fifth appearance for his home town team, teenage striker Blake Matier was handed a debut from the bench in the second half.
Matier, who had featured heavily for Bangor’s Under 17 side last season before progressing to the Reserve team this season, is the third local teenager to make their first appearance for the Seasiders this season following in the footsteps of both Mitchell and goalkeeper Lawton McMahon.
Those opportunities for local talent are crucial in the opinion of Feeney as he looks to Bangor’s Academy structure for promising youngsters.
“We have been aiming to give the best local talent an opportunity at the top level of Irish League football, so it’s great to have been able to do that for three local lads already this season,” he said.
“We want to make sure that the talent in Bangor and north Down stays local and doesn’t need to go to a club in Belfast or beyond to be able to get a chance at the top.
“Even though it was a tough result on Saturday, it’s a great opportunity for both Blake and Alfie to experience and learn from, while Lawton was involved with warming up with the goalkeepers before kick-off.
“Blake has been playing really well for the Reserves and we’ve been keeping an eye on him,” added Feeney.
“He has scored 10 goals in the Reserve’s league so far this season and we’ve had him in training with the first team because of his performances.
“Alfie was a player we brought in from Cliftonville and he has done well every time he has played for the first team.
“They’re still very young too, there is a lot of development ahead for them and a lot of football for them to play. Now they have had a taste of first team football they will be chomping at the bit to be involved again and that’s the challenge.”
