Bryansburn 1st XI continued their unbeaten run last Saturday 17th October moving into 2nd place with a comfortable 4-1 win against 4th placed Donard Hospital at Ballywooley.
The home side were quick out of the blocks and in the 1st min a great ball from Murray found the feet of Tumelty who fired in a low cross but the danger was cleared by the Donard centre half. Bryansburn were stamping their authority on the game and from a corner came the 1st goal of the game. Maguire drilled the ball in and a shot from McConkey found the feet of Kane who fired in from six yards out to put the home side 1-0 up.
Donard were now finding it very difficult to cope with McConkey and after a great run his final ball was over hit with Culbert, who had peeled away from his marker, unable to get on the end off the cross. On fourteen minutes the second goal came. A great ball from Maguire found McConkey and his clever lob put in Tumelty who slid the ball past the advancing keeper to make it 2-0.
Bryansburn continued to over run Donard and in the 20th minute after great work from Murray and Culbert the ball was laid back for McConkey who pulled his shot wide when he should have really hit the target.
Then on 33 minutes again great work from Murray found Maguire and his long-range effort went inches over the bar. The 3rd goal finally came in the 43rd minute after a great lay back from Tumelty to Murray and he unleashed a shot into the roof of the net. Right on the stroke of halftime Donard Hospital scored to give them a lifeline.
Both sides cancelled each other out in the opening ten minutes of the second half and in the 57th minute a free header at the back post from McGimpsey went well over when he should have hit the target.
The final goal of the game came with fifteen minutes remaining when a great through ball by the impressive Murray found Tumelty and his first time ball fell to McGimpsey who smashed the ball in off the post to leave the final score 4-1.
This result has moved Bryansburn into 2nd place of the table. They are now two points off leaders Dundonald with two games in hand. This Saturday sees a break from League action when they travel to 1A side Rosario YC in the 2nd round of the Irish Cup.
The 2nds travelled to Mossley YM ll as they returned to league action and suffered a 4-1 reverse.
On a tight pitch, the hosts began brightly and used their physical presence to their advantage. They created a few chances before scoring two goals around the twenty minute mark to underline their dominance. This spurred Bryansburn into gear and they had a number of efforts to cut the deficit. Cooling crossed for Owens at the back post but the home defender did enough to put him off his shot. Corr then produced a textbook header down towards the bottom corner of the net but the keeper pulled off a great save to deny him. ‘Burn did pull one back though on the half when Owens shot powerfully home on the half volley after good battling in the box by the visitors.
HT 2-1.
Bryansburn had the momentum and in the second half were going forward in search of the equaliser. They dominated play in a role reversal of the opening twenty minutes and created several openings but could not find the back of the net. Mossley got another against the run of play when a couple of fortunate ricochets fell their way to allow their sub a simple tap in. They got another on the final whistle as ‘Burn pushed up in an attempt to get back in the game. A poor game from the 2nd team who must improve if they want to turn recent results around. FT 4-1.
The 3rd XI put in their poorest performance of the season so far to crash out of the Billy Allen Shield 4-3 at the hands of Oakfield Breda. ‘Burn only started playing in the final twenty-five minutes by which time they were 4-1 down but even then they should have at least taken the game into extra time.
The home side trailed 2-0 at the break as Oakfield played the better football with ‘Burn looking like strangers at times. The first goal came from the penalty spot when Cole got on the wrong side of his man and then fouled him in the box. The visitors then doubled their lead after Cole had fouled on the edge of the box and an expertly taken free-kick found the bottom corner. Ironically Bryansburn carved out the best two chances of the half with probably their only two decent moves. Firstly Beattie squared the ball across the face of goal for Cardwell and the keeper pulled off a superb point blank save. Then a flowing move saw Cardwell tee up Edwards but although his shot beat the keeper it was cleared off the line by a defender.
Bryansburn had the worst possible start to the second half when Oakfield extended their lead to three before Cardwell scored on the turn to reduce the deficit. ‘Burn then pushed to try and get back in the game and were caught out on the break to make it 4-1. On the hour mark the home side made a tactical change moving from 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 sacrificing Full-back Cole and bring Peeples on up front. The rest of the game was all Bryansburn. Edwards rapped the post and Dempster was foiled by the keeper after a 1-2 with Peeples before ‘Burn pulled a goal back. Beattie fired a corner to the far post where the lurking Shaw scored his first ever goal for the Club with a powerful header. Still the pressure was relentless and Peeples smacked a header off the crossbar and then Bryansburn made it 4-3 with five minutes remaining. Edwards laid the ball back to Peeples and he kept his composure to slot the ball into the bottom corner.
Oakfield were now hanging on with Bryansburn sensing the chance to force extra time and the chances were there to do it. Twice Edwards was put clean through and failed to hit the target and then when he got through a third time he squared the ball to Cardwell six yards out but he did not catch the ball right and put it over the bar.
There is no doubt that Bryansburn’s strong finish merited at least extra time but the truth is that they deserve to be out of the Shield due to such a poor first hour.
The 4th XI crashed to League-leaders Brentwood ll at Londonderry Park. This was despite starting well and taking the lead through Gilmer after good work by Geddis. ‘Burn were holding their own but the game turned after 25 minutes when Full-back Campbell instinctively handled a goal bound header. Inevitably, he was sent off and Brentwood equalised from the resulting penalty. With Jones and debutant Hoy defending stoutly ‘Burn frustrated the opposition but pressure told and Brentwood took the lead ten minutes before halftime. Even so Bryansburn nearly got an equaliser when Gilmer latched on to a poor clearance and lobbed the keeper only to see a defender get back to clear off the line. Crucially Brentwood extended their lead on the stroke of half time to leave the ten men with an uphill struggle.
In the second half the home team made good use of their extra man on the large pitch and ‘Burn began to tire, also losing Jones and Geddis to injuries. Goals were conceded at regular intervals and Brentwood ran out easy winners. Towards the end young Ross Edwards made his competitive debut but was unable to emulate the goal scoring exploits of his older brother and ‘Burn stalwart Ricky.
Training continues at Ward Park tonight (Thur) at 6.30pm and on Tuesday 8pm at Bangor Sportsplex.
Fixtures this Saturday: 1st XI V Rosario YC (a), 3rd XI V Greenwell Star (h) and 4th XI V 3rd Bangor OB (a).
The Christmas Dinner has been booked in the Stormont Hotel for Saturday 19th December and there are now only two places left. Anyone interested can secure their place with a £25 deposit to be given to Alan Dempster asap.
All players are reminded that annual subscriptions are now due. Could those who have not yet paid please do so this Saturday.
