North Down and Bangor Battle Through Storm Darragh
North Down made the short trip to Bangor on Friday night to play one of the few matches that went ahead in the province during Storm Darragh. A well drilled game plan ahead of the whistle was evident 30 seconds into the game with a high press leading to turnover ball. Bangor found it difficult to get out from the back and North dominated possession in the first 5 minutes, however against the run of play Bangor opened the scoring with a short corner. North reset and great work from Patrick Kerr down the right earned a short corner for themselves. A quick chat from Sam Pyper and Kerr at the top of the area would suggest a plan, and it was executed perfectly with a one-two pass around the first runner, and skipper Pyper flicked the ball high in to the net to even to scores. It wasn’t long before North took back control and extend the lead. Kerr and Jonny Burch caused mischief down the right hand side again and Burch picked out the run from Pyper infront of goal and his def touch edged past the keeper for his second. Moments later from the restart, young Connor McClements intercepted a cross field pass and was through on the keeper but was forced wide and the chance gone. 2-1 at half time.
The game got a bit scrappy in the 3rd quarter with some decisions going the wrong way and North felt aggrieved with a number of short corners awarded against them. This frustrated the visitors and none more so than David Burch who was too vocal for the home umpires liking, and a 10 minute yellow was the result. Bangor used the man advantage well and scored with a great reverse. They then went on and extended the lead after a series of short corners following a number of fine saves from Peter Gray. With 10 minutes to go and back to full strength, North managed to increase the tempo and a cross deflected wide of the goal. Pyper got there first and passed it back into the space infront of goal where Jack Dobson composed himself and finished well to make it 3-3. It was end to end for the final 5 minutes and points shared was probably a fair enough result.
Thanks for Richard Bruce for umpiring and a special mention for young Harry McLaughlin who made his senior hockey debut and did not disappoint.
Burch Autos Man of The Match: Sam Pyper