Match Photos: Graeme Bolton Photography

Match Highlights: Editor: Graeme Bolton, Cameraman: Ryan Tweedie

Saturday 10th October 2009 - Ladbrokes.com Championship 1

Ballyclare Comrades team

Subs: 12.Anto Crawford  14.Darren Munster  15.Johnny Gowdy  16.Andy Simms  17.Ricky Moore

Bangor: McCurdy, Mann, Youle, Whiteside, Whitford, Maxwell, Dunlop, Scates, Rosbotham, Morrow Upton. Subs: McIntyre, Magennis,Maguire, Boyd, Knox.

Comrades substitutions

Sam McWilliams (86')

Ricky Moore (86')

Mark McClelland (90+1')

Anto Crawford (90+1')

Goals

Mark McClelland (49')

Andy McIntyre (81')

Andy McIntyre (82')

Comrades cards

Ronnie Burns (12')

Comrades man of the match

Scott Irvine

Two goals in a minute, conceded late in the game, condemned Comrades to an undeserved defeat at Bangor, in a match were they were otherwise rarely troubled.

With keeper Paddy Flood, captain Andy Forsythe and Gareth Curlett unavailable with either injury or suspension, Gordon Chambers was forced to make changes at the back. The experienced Allen Huxley came into the side in goals, whilst Mark Drysdale and Sam McWilliams were selected as full-backs, with Niall Devine moving into the centre of defence. In midfield, Simon McGowan returned after suspension, with David Officer moving to the left wing. Up front changes were also made, with Mark McClelland and Ronnie Burns starting together for the first time.

The opening minutes saw Comrades start on the front foot and they had the first effort of the match on 4 minutes, with a 20 yard strike by Ronnie Burns flying wide of the post.

Bangor then stepped up their game and enjoyed a spell of marginal territorial advantage. On 10 minutes, a high ball into the Comrades box was headed on by McIntyre and found the head of Upton, whose downward effort from 6 yards was too close to Allen Huxley and was saved comfortably.

As the half progressed play became increasingly scrappy as the sides cancelled each other out. Chances were rare, but on 22 minutes Scott Irvine crossed from the right to find Ronnie Burns, however, his attempted volley from 14 yards out sailed well wide of the target.

Perhaps the best chance of an increasingly tepid first half fell to the home side on 43 minutes when, after a corner was cleared, the ball was pumped back into the Comrades box, with a couple of Bangor players looking in offside positions. One of those players, Upton, got his head to the ball, but his effort looped over Allen Huxley and also narrowly over the bar.

A minute from the break Comrades had a half chance when Stuart Galbraith found Ronnie Burns with a penetrating diagonal ball played to the corner of the 6 yard box, but Burns’ first-time effort was weak and failed to trouble McCurdy in the home goal.

Comrades stared the second half with a great chance on 48 minutes, when a David Officer corner from the left broke to Niall Devine at the far post, but the Comrades defender saw his rising shot from 6 yards fly over the bar.

A minute later, however, Comrades grabbed the lead. After some neat build up play Mark Drysdale found Mark McClelland on the right side of the box and the muscular Comrades striker then neatly turned his marker and smacked a powerful shot across goal, which flew into the net, despite the keeper getting fingertips to it.

The second half progressed with neither side able to gain any kind of dominance or threaten the goal, much in the manner of the first half. Comrades looked fairly comfortable in the lead, with the home side looking increasing unlikely to threaten much after a chance on 56 minutes. A long punt up field found Upton in the box and he headed the ball on towards goal past the outrushing Allen Huxley, but he could not get the power on his effort that would take it past Andy Long, who was well positioned to clear comfortably off the line.

Apart from that, Bangor created little against a well marshalled Comrades defence, with the only effort of note a half chance for Upton on 74 minutes, which flew wide from 12 yards.

It also has to be said that, despite looking fairly comfortable with the lead, Comrades rarely threatened to increase it and the narrowness of their advantage was demonstrate in a terrible minute of disaster for them ten minutes from the end of the game, when it was overturned by a two goal Bangor blast.

Firstly, on 81 minutes, Scates did well to beat his marker and force a fine save from Allen Huxley with a shot from the left side of the 6-yard box. However, the rebound fell back to Scates, who did well to find McIntyre at the far post, who headed in from a couple of yards out. Then, less than a minute later, a high ball pumped up by Magennis caught out the Comrades defence and found McIntyre free and he lifted the ball calmly over the outrushing Allen Huxley and into the net from the edge of the box.

Comrades were now stung into action and came agonisingly close to drawing level a minute later, when Ronnie Burns surged down the right side of the box before clipping the ball across to Mark McClelland, who seemed certain to score from 4 yards until McCurdy somehow managed to get a fingertip to the ball to deflect it out of his path.

Despite throwing everything they had into trying to get an equaliser Comrades just couldn’t get that one golden chance. The closest they came was three minutes into stoppage time, when Ronnie Burns got his head to a Scott Irvine cross 7 yards out, but his effort under challenge from a couple of defenders went over the bar.

This was a hard defeat to take from a game where, despite not playing all that well themselves, Comrades, until that devastating 60 seconds, had looked set to take all three points against an out of touch Bangor side.

On a positive note, Comrades reshaped defence performed well, and there were encouraging individual performances from a number of players all over the pitch, despite the scrappy nature of the game.