BANGOR go into a free weekend on the back of a hard-earned point at Carrick Rangers, but there will be no sense of having a rest for Lee Feeney or his squad.
Instead the Seasiders will use the time to prepare to take on title chasing Glentoran at Clandeboye Park on Tuesday night (7.45pm).
While Feeney’s men may have an extra day or two to recover, Declan Devine will Tuesday night to face Bangor. But despite be managing his squad through a congested schedule as they battle on multiple fronts.
The Glens moved within five points of league leaders Larne after defeating Carrick Rangers on Tuesday night in a rearranged Premiership fixture. A late goal from MJ Kamson-Kamara catapulted the east Belfast side into second place with a game in hand on all three of their closest title rivals.
Then tomorrow night (Friday), Devine’s men will face Larne in the quarter finals of the Irish Cup at the Oval before heading to Clandeboye Park on the contrast in preparations, the Bangor boss knows his side will face a tough task on Tuesday.
“I would love to be playing on Saturday and keep ticking the games off,” admitted Feeney.
“Instead, we’ll take the opportunity to get a couple more days of preparation under our belts.
“We will use it as a chance to get a better look at Glentoran and prepare as best we can for a tough game.
“Glentoran are well equipped and have the squad to handle a congested fixture list. These are the types of moments that clubs like Glentoran are built for.”
Feeney will welcome Ben Cushnie back from suspension but he will now be without his captain Lewis Harrison as he serves a one match ban for the red card he received last weekend. The combative midfielder was booked in each half against Carrick Rangers and his manager felt both bookings were very harsh.
Referee Louise Thompson was left with a number of big decisions to make as she sent off Harrison and Carrick Rangers’ Adam Lecky, while awarding Bangor a penalty and waving away the appeals of the home side for a penalty of their own.
“I thought Lewis’ yellow cards were both very soft,” reflected the Bangor manager.
“Especially in a game like Saturday when it was a real battle with two teams competing well against each other. Both teams were fighting hard to get the win and there wasn’t a bad tackle in the game. I thought the referee could have had a bit more common sense when it came to those bookings.
“I don’t think Carrick Rangers can have any complaints about their player being sent off. He lifted his hands and there can be no argument that it’s a red card. I also think the referee got it spot on with their penalty appeal, it was never a penalty.”
But beyond the refereeing decisions, Feeney was pleased with the efforts of his side – especially in response to a tough run of results.
Feeney revealed: “We had a very constructive week in preparing for the match in terms of classroom sessions, talks as a group and training on the pitch. So I wasn’t surprised by the performance at all.
“I felt we owed a good performance to ourselves, the supporters and the Club as a whole. We haven’t been performing well and I was confident we would get a good performance on Saturday as a reaction, and I was pleased with what I seen.
“It was just unfortunate we didn’t get three points as I felt we shaded the game and were the better team. We had a couple of good chances at the end of the first half through Tiarnan Mulvenna and then Ben Arthurs should have scored with his header in the second half, so we had the better of the opportunities.
“I loved our character after Lewis had been sent off. We didn’t flinch and stood strong which was really pleasing. We even created a chance on the break that on another day we might have scored.”
