Bryansburn Rangers FC

Bryansburn 2^nd XI travelled down the Ards peninsula to face Portaferry Rovers in the 1^st Round of the IFA Junior Cup on Saturday.

The home team dominated from the outset and Bryansburn failed to get to grips with the game for the first half hour. Portaferry almost opened the scoring after five minutes when a header from a corner had keeper Murdoch beat but Kehoe cleared off the line. ‘Burn were reduced to a few rare forays into the opposition half. What proved to be the only goal of the game came in the 25^th minute and it was a fortunate one. Despite excellent defensive tackles from S McAllister and Larmour, the ball fell kindly for the Portaferry no9 and his shot crept into the bottom corner of the net. J McAllister and Kehoe had half chances to equalise but the 1^st half ended with ‘Burn fortunate to turn around only one behind. H-T 1-0.

Bryansburn responded to the halftime team talk and came out a different team for the second half. Substitute McGreevy looked lively and caused the home left back all sorts of problems. All over the park Bryansburn began to hassle and harry the opposition. A key refereeing decision came with twenty minutes to go. J McAllister, who ran tirelessly all day, pushed the ball past the last defender and was taken down. The Portaferry defender was extremely fortunate to get away with a yellow card. From the resulting free kick, McCullough stepped up and almost scored a carbon copy of his great goal last week but his effort just cleared the crossbar.

Portaferry were always a danger on the break but the ‘Burn defence was solid and was ably assisted by sound goalkeeping from Murdoch. Substitute Cairnduff came on and gave further impetus to the Bryansburn attack. He had two decent chances in the last ten minutes but failed to find the back of the net. The final whistle blew and the home side were glad to hear it. The seconds can hold their heads high. After a poor 1^st half they responded well in the 2^nd half against a good Portaferry side. F-T 1-0.

The 3^rd XI moved second in the League on goal difference after a comfortable 7-3 win at Bangor Swifts lll.

Bryansburn dominated from the start and raced into a two-goal lead with a flowing move finished by Edwards followed by a header from a corner by the same player. Swifts battled well and reduced the deficit with a good header from a corner. Bryansburn stepped up a gear and the home keeper was forced to make good saves to deny Cardwell and Dempster before Hardy pounced to make the score 3-1. ‘Burn looked capable of scoring with every attack as some flowing football ripped the home side apart but there was no further scoring.

In the second half Bryansburn lost their way somewhat although credit must be given to Bangor Swifts who fought back well. Early in the half Edwards burst through to complete his hat-trick and make the score 4-1 but after that there was no sign of the flowing football of the first half. Swifts created a few opportunities before pulling a goal back. Fortunately ‘Burn restored their three goal cushion within minutes when Cardwell was brought down in the box and picked himself up to despatch the resultant penalty. Veteran Murphy was introduced for the first time this season, as was sixteen year-old Boyd. The home side continued to battle and pulled the score back to 5-3 with only ten minutes remaining. Only then did Bryansburn lift their game and added two further goals. Firstly Dempster held the ball up and squared the ball for Edwards to hammer the ball into the roof of the net and then Cardwell made a good run and squared the ball for Dempster to complete the scoring.

Bryansburn 4^th XI entertained North Down ll on Saturday and emerged with a fine 3–2 win.

North Down started strongly and their short passing game stretched the ‘Burn defence. Goalkeeper Magennis had to be alert and made one particularly good save diving to his left to push a shot round the post. At the same time his strong kicking set up several Bryansburn attacks and from one of these Ferguson latched on to a long clearance to send a stunning 25-yard volley into the roof of the net. North Down continued to press and teenager Nelson made a great saving tackle on the goal line to prevent an equaliser. At the other end young Keable chased another long clearance and his chip over the keeper looked a goal all the way but came back off the crossbar and was cleared.

The 2^nd half continued in the same way with the Bryansburn defence holding out under pressure and relying on quick counter attacks. From one of these Keable fired home from an acute angle to open his senior account with an excellent goal. This gave ‘Burn a cushion and they looked increasingly comfortable until fifteen minutes from the end when a corner was half cleared only for a North Down player to strike a fine shot into the roof of the net.

Bryansburn nerves were settled soon after though when McReynolds broke away to restore the two goal lead. ‘Burn seemed to be seeing the game out when two minutes from the end the visitors won a strong challenge on the half way line and the wind carried the ball unerringly into the roof of the Bryansburn net for a fluke goal. Luckily it was too late to affect the result and the home side saw out the remainder of the match without incident.

All in all a fine battling performance by the 4ths against a good footballing side.

‘BURN GO DOWN AT HOME

Despite having significantly more of the play and chances, Bryansburn 1^st XI stumbled to a 3-0 home defeat to visiting Bloomfield.

Wind, rain and mud were the order of the day and proved to be the deciding factors. Despite playing against the wind, Bryansburn made all the early running but found themselves a goal down five minutes into the match with Bloomfield’s first incursion into the Bryansburn half. A curling free kick thirty yards out on Bryansburn’s left was lofted into the danger area in the wind and found the big Centre-forward’s head. Bryansburn continued on the offensive but Culbert and Coard missed several gilt edged chances with wet and muddied boots and ball not helping to get in clean strikes. Midway through the half, both Bryansburn central defenders slipped in the mud and allowed a Bloomfield forward to lob over Steventon’s head. Bryansburn again continued their attack and more chances went a-begging and Coard hit the crossbar with a free kick but five minutes before the break another high ball was lofted into the goal mouth with wind assistance and it only took a touch to put Bloomfield 3-0 up.

Although ‘Burn harboured hopes of a comeback with wind advantage it was obvious that with the middle of the pitch turning into a quagmire any controlled football was impossible. Bryansburn showed little imagination upfront in breaking down a stubborn Bloomfield defence and although the Bloomfield ‘keeper was kept busy he was save and sound. Bryansburn got in enumerable shots but they were either too high or too wide and Malomo-Paris failed to connect with his head virtually on the goal line before a Culbert pile driver cannoned off the post.

Whilst the match should probably not have been played and it is easy to make excuses, Bryansburn missed too many clear-cut chances and gave away goals, which could have been better defended.