Ballymena 1
Bangor 2
League (Irish League)

Match Report

Ballymena struck another bad patch on Saturday, being defeated by Bangor by the odd goal in three despite the fact that had roughly two-thirds of the play.

The weakness lay in the forward line, which lacked punch, but a great deal of Bangor's success was due to Moore's good goalkeeping and the large slice of luck which attended his efforts.

Ballymena were all right up to a point, the finishing efforts of the forwards being off the mark to an extent which was surprising. However, they manged to fire in many good shots, but these were stopped by either Moore or the woodwork. The only consolation Ballymena had was in a penalty scored by John McNinch.

D. Reid and Howard were off the Ballymena team, Gilmore and Mitchell re-appearing on the side. The former filled the centre-half position, while Mitchell played well at inside-left, and McCambridge came back to left-half.

McCambridge had a hearty cheer all to himself as captain when he walked up for the spin of the coin, which was repeated when he won the toss and set Ballymena to play with the breeze at their backs. On the hard, frosty ground the foothold was slippery, and with a keen ball the players were often out on their calculations, this being marked in the case of Clarke, who missed two good openings for centres right at the start.

The first event of note came when McNinch made a lengthly clearance to the left wing, where Shaw had a fast race and shot, but Moore picked up easily. A corner from Shaw followed soon afterwards, and then the Bangor forwards moved quickly towards the opposite goal, where J. Reid fell back to help the defence and cleared to Shiels, who went pell-mell for goal, but his shot went a little wide.

A free against Gilmore let the visitors away again, and after Gough had kicked clear from H. Stewart the ball went to Gwynne, who shot into an empty goal. It seemed as if nothing could prevent a score, but McDiarmid took a flying leap and deflected the ball with his head for a corner. Ballymena again took up the running, and Morrow turned in an overhead shot which Moore pushed out, but Clarke failed to return. Then Gilmore had a good try, which missed by inches. Continuing their attack, the home forwards were always able to work up to within shooting distance, but almost invariably they lost the ball too easily. Another spurt by Bangor found them in the home goal area, where S. Armstrong essayed a try which went wide of the posts.

The Bangor goal had a narrow escape when Shiels struck the crossbar after some pleasing play on the part of the forward rank. With the exception of an occasional run Bangor were being outplayed at this stage of game. After McKinney had tested Gough and the goalie had cleared, Morrow ran right through the opposing defence and drove in hard, Moore pushing the ball against the face of the bar for it to be cleared on the rebound. The next shot in the bombardment came from McCambridge, who drove in from far out, Moore only saving the try at the expense of a corner. A free to Ballymena gave them another chance, but Gilmore sent behind.

A snap run by Bangor found McKinney and H. Stewart going hard for goal, and after McDairmid had been outwitted Gough came out to narrow the shooting area, but Mal McKinney put the ball past him into the net for a goal, which, although a good one, was totally against the balance of play. Gough saved the situation a minute later when another score seemed imminent. A free to Ballymena a few yards out of the Bangor goal, for Moore over-carrying, raised some hope in the breasts of the home supporters, but the finishing efforts of the forwards were weak. The goal seemed to bear a charmed life, for a minute later McCambridge headed against the bar.

Another run by Bangor saw Arlow going well, but Gough spoiled his effort, which went past. A short time before the interval Herbie Stewart ran right through and netted the second goal, giving Gough no chance with the close range shot.

Match report written by Ballymena Observer (11 January 1929)