LEE Feeney admitted his Bangor side weren’t at their best on Saturday afternoon, but a goal 10 minutes from full-time secured a valuable three points for the Seasiders.
Stephen McGuinness’ strike put Bangor back in front after Crusaders’ Adam Brooks had cancelled out Liam Hassin’s first half opener, and Feeney’s men held on from there to make it three consecutive Premiership victories.But there is room for improvement as far as the Bangor boss was concerned.
“We didn’t play well at all,” reflected Feeney. “We didn’t control the ball or handle the game very well, especially in the second half.“I thought we defended well for most of the game but for the goal we conceded we were really poor. In the end it was a game where we had to be as professional as we could and try to dig in and get the three points. “It’s important that we win our home games so picking up the three points was the most pleasing thing.”
Crusaders’ 54th-minute equaliser was quickly followed up by a goal line clearance from Kyle Owens which prevented the north Belfast side from turning the game on its head.
That type of response from the Crues didn’t surprise Feeney, and the Kilkeel man opted to change his side’s shape in a bid to get back on top. It was a change that proved pivotal instantly with Stephen McGuinness emerging from the bench to score the decisive winner.
“I was disappointed with the way we were dealing with things and when Crusaders equalised it was only natural that their tails would be up and we would have a bit of a storm to weather,” he explained.“But we did weather the storm, and I felt we started to take control as the half wore on and we found our feet again.“Crusaders had plenty of possession and territory but we didn’t allow them to really trouble our goal and I always felt we carried a threat at the other end, and I was really pleased that Stephen McGuinness was on hand to score the winner.
“We can’t put the responsibility for scoring goals solely on our strikers. We ask our strikers to do a lot of defensive work so they’re maybe out of position when they’re tracking back and working really hard on the defensive side of our game.
“So it’s really important for everyone to be chipping in with goals and Saturday was a great example with a midfielder and a defender both scoring.”
