WHILE Bangor needed a goal in extra time to navigate their way past Newington in the fifth round of the Irish Cup, there was no doubt about the Seasiders being the deserved winners according to manager Lee Feeney.
Marty Bradley’s strike after 105 minutes proved to be the winning moment after Michael Morgan’s opening goal had been cancelled out by a Newington leveller in the first half. But the Seasiders spurned a series of great opportunities before Bradley eventually stabbed home from close range in extra time to book Bangor’s place in the next round.
Although it was a deserved outcome as far as Feeney was concerned, he knows his side can be better – especially in front of goal.
“No doubt about it, we deserved to win,” reflected the Kilkeel man.
“It was a tough game against a tough opponent. They have been on a good run of form recently and are unbeaten in their last three games.
“Nothing is guaranteed and when you look at the other results in the Irish Cup, the team that is expected to win doesn’t always do so. In our case, the best team on Saturday qualified and I was really pleased with that.
“We can still be better in both boxes,” Feeney added. “I don’t think Newington had any more than two or three chances during the game yet they scored one goal which shows they were ultimately more ruthless than us.”
Feeney watched on as top scorer Matthew Ferguson struck the crossbar, while Max Davidson, Marty Bradley and Lewis Harrison were all guilty of missing the target from close range. Those missed opportunities are a source of frustration but the Bangor boss believes the tide will turn in front of goal.
“The good thing is we are creating so many chances,” he said.
“It’s not a case of us struggling to break teams down, we just have struggled to convert all of our chances.
“I know it will turn and there will be a match where we will take all of our chances. It’s just about having that bit more composure and belief in front of goal.
“When you look at the chances on Saturday, Matthew Ferguson hit the crossbar and he was very unlucky as the bounce of the ball denied him a goal. Then after that we missed some really, really good chances and that was down to a lack of composure and belief.”
