Match Sponsor: Power Air - Compressed Air Equipment, Blairis Industrial Estate, Lisburn - Tel: 92628885

Ball Sponsor: Snob Logs Coffee Shop, Logwood Plant Centre, 8 Logwood Road, Ballyclare

Match Photos: Graeme Bolton Photography

Match Highlights: Graeme Bolton & RyanTweedie

Saturday 6th March 2010 - Ladbrokes.com Championship 1

Ballyclare Comrades team

Subs: 12.Marty McAvoy  14.Steve Bainbridge  15.Sam McWilliams 16.Matt Boyd  17.Neil McGrath

Bangor: Cairnduff, Mann, Whitford, Dunlop, Girvan, Melly, KIngsberry, McCurdy, Morrow, White, Rosbotham. Subs - McIntyre, Upton, Machude, Knox, Maguire.

Comrades substitutions

Scott Irvine (76')

Steve Bainbridge (76')

Andy Simms (83')

Marty McAvoy (83')

Simon McGowan (87')

Matt Boyd (87')

Goals

Andy Simms (30')

Lee Rushe (56')

Comrades cards

Andy Forsythe (60')

Comrades man of the match

Lee Rushe

Comrades got back to winning ways with a good solid win over Bangor at a sunny Dixon Park.

For this match, Gordon Chambers was still without the suspended Stuart Galbraith and also had to do without the unavailable Johnny Gowdy. Gowdy’s absence meant a reshuffle from the side which had played Larne the week before. Scott Irvine moved to partner Mark McClelland in attack, with Simon McGowan coming into the starting line-up in midfield and David Officer starting in an unfamiliar role on the right.

The game began fairly quietly, with chances few and far between as the sides jockeyed for dominance. The first decent effort came from the visitors in the 7th minute, when Rosbotham hit a well struck shot from 35 yards, which had Allen Huxley worried before it went just over the bar.

Comrades’ first effort came in the 16th minute. David Officer, adapting well to his new position, played an intelligent ball down the right to Scott Irvine who had run in behind the Bangor defence, but from a very tight angle inside the box, he shot low, wide of the far post.

It was an evenly matched and tight match at this stage, but Comrades managed to break the deadlock on the half hour. Good play down the right ended with David Officer sending a deep looping cross to the far post, where Andy Simms arrived at just the right time to head in from 3 yards out.

On 34 minutes David Officer had a strike himself, from all of 35 yards, but his well hit effort was comfortably saved by Cairnduff.

Comrades had managed to keep Bangor well away from their goal for most of the first half, but the visitors had a chance to grab an equaliser in the 41st minute. A throw-in into the Comrades box was only scuffed clear to Kingsberry, 16 yards out, and his resulting shot flew a couple of feet wide of the post.

The first half ended in controversy. Bangor had increasingly shown some lack of discipline in arguing with the referee and it was to cost them three minutes into injury-time, when Morrow was sent off for something said to Mr Carvill, although there may be an argument that it was a case of mistaken identity.

The second half began with Comrades trying their best to make their man advantage count to seal the victory. Although Bangor defended well, the home side looked capable of extending their lead. Gordon Chambers had also mixed things up a bit, swapping wingers Andy Simms and David Officer about.

On 54 minutes a free-kick from deep on the right wing played high into the box by Stuart McCullough almost caught out Cairnduff, who had to tip it over the bar. Two minutes later however, the Bangor keeper was all at sea as Comrades increased their lead. A long ball was played toward a typically surging run forward from Lee Rushe. It looked a lost cause and a certain goal-kick, but Rushe did not give up. Somehow he got to the ball before it crossed the by-line and did remarkably well to hook it first-time goalwards from the acutest of angles, past the keeper who had left his line and got caught in no man’s land. The ball was then knocked into the net by Mark McClelland, sliding in on the goal line.

To their credit Bangor never gave up and attempted to spark and unlikely comeback. On 68 minutes McIntyre hit a good shot from 16 yards, which Allen Huxley had to be alert to save low near his post. Then, four minutes later, McIntyre hooked the ball goalwards from 12 yards out, forcing Huxley to acrobatically tip the ball onto the bar. The loose ball was then blasted high and wide by Kingsberry.

This was a rare period of danger posed by the visitors as Comrades defence was generally very much in command of the situation, winning almost everything on the ground and in the air.

Comrades still kept looking for more goals, but they were limited to shots from outside the box, as the visitors kept their shape at the back, despite being posed constant problems by the hard-working Comrades strikers.

In the 75th minute an Andy Simms free-kick from 20 yards went just of the target. Then, three minutes later, a well struck Andy Forsythe effort from 35 yards forced a save from Cairnduff.

Mark McClelland typified Comrades effort, running to the end, and he created a couple of late half chances for himself. On 84 minutes he did very well to take a high ball in his stride and shot a yard or so wide from the edge of the box. Then, on 86 minutes, he stuck another effort from 20 yards, which went just wide of the target.

At the final whistle Comrades were comfortable winners, having put in a good professional performance.