Crossmolina 2-1 Bangor Hibs

Crossmolina used their "Get out of jail free" card to steal a 2-1 victory against Bangor Hibs on Sunday afternoon at Abbeytown. It was a game dominated by one team, and it wasn’t Crossmolina. Bangor will wonder how they managed to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory and Crossmolina will just thank their lucky stars, take the three points and hope to improve on an uninspired performance. In a match of few quality chances it was the visitors who had the monopoly on possession, with their neat passing leaving their opponents floundering. Their first decent opportunity arose from a right wing long throw which fell to a Bangor player in the box. He controlled it on his knee but shot weakly from 8 yards out when it mattered. With the home side failing to create any chances Hibs enjoyed long periods of possession but they failed to capitalise on it due to an heroic performance by the Crossmolina back four. Throughout the match, while all else around them fell to pieces, the home backline were outstanding in coping with unrelenting Bangor pressure. The only time they were beaten in the whole match was in the 22nd minute, and that could be attributed to a goalkeeping error. The ever dangerous Bangor no. 8 dribbled across the edge of the Crossmolina 18 yard box looking for an opening to shoot. He took a speculative shot from the left side and although it was well hit, goalkeeper Johnny O’Hora would like to have it back. His mistimed dive gave Bangor a deserved lead and sucked what little life there was out of the home side. Their best scoring opportunity came from a silly handball by a Bangor defender on the edge of his box, which led to Crossmolina being awarded a free kick 18 yards out. Joe Keane, who scored from a similar position last week, could not replicate the accuracy of that shot and his attempt was blocked by the Hibs wall. Later Paul Flaherty’s inviting left wing cross into the Bangor area was met by a powerful John Hegarty header which was just wide. This was the last significant action of a dour first half, which Crossmolina would consider themselves lucky to have emerged from with only a one goal deficit. They had created little but they worked ferociously to shut down Bangor’s passing game. This didn’t work often, except maybe in the case of the backline, but nevertheless the effort remained throughout the whole 90 minutes and perhaps, in a perverse way, they deserved to be rewarded for that as much as Bangor’s neat interplay entitled them to the three points. The game evoked that sort of logical (or illogical) thinking because how else could you reason that Crossmolina deserved to be victorious! The second half saw a resumption of the Bangor blitz. They played how they wanted, when they wanted and the home side was reduced to a series of last ditch tackles, frantic clearances and general desperation tactics. It was as if they knew they would get their reward if they just held firm in the face of great adversity, and this stubborn belief was to prove true after 65 minutes. A right wing cross to the back post which Hegarty just couldn’t connect with was bundled into the goal by Paul McGuinness and against all odds Crossmolina were level at 1-1. Seven minutes later the unthinkable happened. Derek Greham tossed a right wing throw in to John Duggan who juggled the ball on his knee as he turned and volleyed a cross to the back post. Eoin Syron was unmarked and he made no mistake from 8 yards out to give Crossmolina an unlikely 2-1 lead. The scoreline only served to increase the Bangor barrage and Crossmolina were firmly on the back foot for the remainder of the game. They held firm however and might have sealed the win with 8 minutes remaining when Greham was in the clear after another long Crossmolina clearance. He dragged his shot to the left though ensuring that his defence would have to work to the final whistle if victory was to be achieved. It was a member of this defence who displayed a determination that was symbolic of the Crossmolina performance when John McGuinness dribbled the length of the field with little time remaining in the game. McGuinness emulated his brother Paul when he won a challenge at right back and bulled his way up the field on an unstoppable run. It was a gutsy charge after over 80 minutes of hard work and his endeavour was only spoiled by a Bangor player blocking his shot on the edge of the box. A few minutes later the game would ebb and flow no more and all that mattered was the cold hard statistics; 2-1. Bangor will probably play worse this season and win, while Crossmolina daren’t even contemplate replaying this performance because they will hardly be as fortunate again. As a wise old pundit once said, it’s a funny old game.

J O’Hora, J McGuinness, J Keane, D McDonald, M Loftus, J Duggan, P McGuinness, P Whittaker, P Flaherty( E Syron 60), D Greham, J Hegarty( A Loftus 80)

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