Ballymena 6
Bangor 1
City Cup

Match Report

Ballymena finished the season gloriously on Saturday by a very comfortable win over Bangor, whom they defeated six goals to one.

Four of the Ballymena goals came from Murphy, who has scored something like thirty-nine goals this season, which is surely a marvellous feat for an outside-left.

The first score came at the end of twelve minutes, when Murphy beat Moore hollow with a fast drive. Shiels headed through the second, and so Ballymena crossed over with a two-goal lead, though they had been playing against the wind.

Murphy and Shiels respectively added the third and fourth in the second half, but a penalty enabled McKnight to reduce the lead. Inside the last five minutes Murphy made the Ballymena total six.

After uninteresting opening exchanges, Ballymena with the breeze but against the sun, bore down on the Bangor goal, and a shot from Kilpatrick was charged down. Blair was called on to save from Russell, and later McKnight skimmed the bar with a great drive.

At the end of twelve minutes John Murphy took a well-placed pass from Reid, and cutting in drove the ball at an angle into the back of the net well out of Moore's reach.

After this Ballymena held the whip hand and were always masters of the situation. Some nimble work by Murphy drew a round of applause, and then shiels struck an upright with a first-time drive. After saving a shot from McCready, Moore had some difficulty in fielding the ball owing to the close attention of Shiels, tactics which the leader of the home forwards employed on subsequent occasions, and at least once a corner result. Another corner was forced by Cameron, but Moore saved when Reid headed in.

Much hot work took place in the Bangor goal vicinity, and Moore had to have all his wits about him to prevent further downfall. Indeed, only for his good display more goals would have come earlier in the game. He saved shots from Kilpatrick, Nelson and Shiels in quick succession, and had to concede a corner in stopping a stinger from Murphy.

Then Cameron got possession from a throw-in and lobbed the ball into goal for Jamie Shiels to head through beautifully. The match was now twenty-three minutes old.

Very rarely did the Bangor forwards penerate far into the home quarters, thanks to the vigilance of McCandless and McNinch, the former especially doing some clever work which delighted the crowd.

Moore fisted out a shot from Kilpatrick, but afterwards the visitors broke away in a dangerous move which, however, was rendered futile when Blair ran out and cleared. From Murphy's centre Shiels shot quickly, but Moore failed to hold the ball, which was cleared by Levett only after it had bounced off the face of the upright - a narrow escape.

From another corner taken by Kilpatrick, Shiels headed narrowly over the bar. Bangor made ground again, but all their efforts to get past McCandless were useless, McCandless hoodwinking them in great style and punting the ball up the field again, to the accompaniment of hearty cheers.

Cameron was unfortunate enough to get hurt on the leg as he was working his way in to shoot. Many were of the opinion that a penalty should have been awarded, but the referee ruled otherwise. Cameron and Kilpatrick exchanged places until the interval.

Another Bangor attack ended in Wharton grazing the bar with a good try, and later Cameron led in at the Bangor end, but his shot went wide. Tricky work by Kilpatrick just before the interval was loudly applauded.

The teams turned round without leaving the field and resumed in spirited fashion. Ballymena now faced the breeze, but it did not appear to handicap them in the least.

From McCready's pass Murphy shot hard and Moore saved but failed to hold, and Cameron, who was lying close in, rattled the ball off the upright. Then Reid gave a well-placed pass to Cameron, who walked through the defence and skimmed the bar with a flying drive.

Nelson forced a corner, and when the ball came out from the ruck of players he turned in a shot on his own, but used just a trifle too much elevation.

Bangor attacked for a short period, and Blair saved point-blank shots from Russell and Pollock. At the opposite end Shiels lost possession when close in after a good run down the field.

At the end of twenty-five minutes Ballymena's third goal came from John Murphy who trapped a pass from Reid and scored with an oblique shot, the ball striking the far upright and cannoning off it into the net.

Seven minutes later Jamie Shiels got away from Cameron's pass, and after running nearly half the length of the field beat Moore well for the fourth. Only Maguire's presence on the goal line saved a fifth goal from coming when Moore was beaten to the wide.

During a Bangor attack there was a scramble for possession in front of the home goal, and at last the ball was bundled past Blair, but Nelson stopped it with his hands. A penalty kick was promptly awarded, from which McKnight reduced the lead.

Inside the last five minutes John Murphy scored twice, the first one coming as a result of a long punt up by McCready, and the second from Shiels' pass. On both occasions Murphy eluded all opposition and simply tapped the ball past the goalie.

Match report written by Ballymena Observer (8 May 1931)