IT’S NOW five wins in a row for Bangor in all competitions and the Seasiders will be aiming to extend that run when they meet Institute in the Championship this Saturday at Clandeboye Park (3pm).
While last campaign it was Institute who pipped the Seasiders to the promotion play off place in the last minute of the season, this season has seen a tricky start for Kevin Deery’s men.
With only two points to show from their opening six league outings, ’Stute found themselves at the wrong end of the table. But seven points from their last three games shows signs of a revival that Lee Feeney is wary of.
“I’ve a lot of respect for Kevin Deery and he’s a very, very good coach,” said Feeney.
“He’s always very hard to come up against, it can be like a game of chess at times and I’ve no doubt it will be a similar story on Saturday.
“They had a brilliant season last year and while they might not have hit their best form just yet they’ve started to turn a corner.
“They will be a tough opponent for us and we will have to be ready for the challenge.”
Bangor will be full of confidence heading into Saturday’s Championship fixture after a midweek cup victory over Warrenpoint Town and a hard fought win over Ballyclare Comrades last weekend in the league.
Scoring goals hasn’t been a problem for the Seasiders in recent weeks with their last nine goals coming from nine different scorers, including a first senior goal for teenager Sonny Redford.
Redford has progressed through Bangor’s youth setup and boss Feeney believes he has a lot to offer the Seasiders, both now and in the future.
“I’m not surprised by Sonny’s progression at all,” explained the former Linfield and Rangers striker.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him at the minute because he is doing so well.
“He has only turned 18 and he’s getting fitter and stronger, he trains really hard and works his socks off.
“Sonny can do everything on the pitch in terms of the physical side of the game, he can win the ball in the air, he’s got pace to get in behind a defence and he’s good on the ball,” Feeney continued.
“Sonny is contributing up front and he got his goal on Tuesday night. We had three different scorers last weekend against Ballyclare, four different goal scorers on Tuesday night as well and that’s really pleasing.
Feeney added: “We had a lot of chances to score before we did on Tuesday, but once we got that goal then it settled us down and we built up a bit of momentum and we kicked on.
“Warrenpoint are a dangerous side and it was important we got the first goal. Once we got that goal then we managed the game pretty well.
“There’s a danger when you make a few changes that things become a bit disjointed, especially because we didn’t have a chance to work on anything in between times. But I thought we handled that really well.”
