Toals.com Co Antrim Steel & Sons Cup final: Dunmurry Rec 1 Bangor FC 2
VICTORIOUS Bangor manager Lee Feeney felt "honoured" to be following in the footsteps of the late Frankie Wilson having guided the Seasiders to their first Steel & Sons Cup in over a decade.
In the immediate aftermath of Bangor's hard-earned 2-1 win over Dunmurry Rec at Seaview on Christmas Eve, thoughts turned to former manager and Lamh Dhearg GAA clubman Wilson who lost his battle with cancer in October.
A hugely popular figure in local football and GAA, Wilson won the coveted Steel Cup as Bangor manager in 2011 - and Feeney repeated the feat on Saturday.
“My name is on the list with Frankie Wilson now as being a Bangor manager who has won the Steel and Sons and it’s an honour and very fitting," said Feeney.
"My coach Dean Gordon is running around with Frankie's top on. It’s a pleasure to be associated with Frankie."
Played in front of 2,714 supporters, Feeney felt “relief” after watching his side come from behind to win the silverware against the Amateur League Division 1A side.
Andrew Carberry’s 48th minute strike from just inside the box gave Dunmurry a shock lead - but Feeney always felt they could get back into the tie.
"The feeling is one of relief in the end after going 1-0 down but we dominated that whole game and played really well. I knew we were going to score. Even when we were 1-0 down, I wasn’t panicking. We had opportunities, we just never had the luck, especially in the first half.
"I felt that we were always going to finish with a stronger team than we started with as we have Ben Arthurs coming back from injury and other options on the bench."
Feeney’s changes after half-time did prove crucial as substitute Arthurs levelled the tie when he connected with captain Lewis Harrison’s deflected pass in the 62nd minute.
The Seasiders’ comeback was complete in the 70th minute when Seanan Foster’s cross from the right wing was headed in by Adam Neale at the back post.
Dunmurry were then reduced to ten men in injury time with Rory Courtney receiving a red card.
The North Down side are currently sitting second in the NIFL Premier Intermediate and are challenging to make a return to top flight football following a number of years in the intermediate ranks.
Feeney added: "The boys had a bit of heartache from the play-offs and the Steel & Sons semi-final last year. Hopefully now we have tasted a bit of success, this drives them on for more. We have winners in the changing room who have won things before, but we want to turn them into serial winners."
Feeney’s side were the favourites going into the tie, something which captain Lewis Harrison mentioned after the victory: “I didn’t feel the pressure until last night, I couldn’t sleep but once you start playing and get into it you realise it is all going to be alright. Whenever we went 1-0 down, I thought 'no, not again' but when we got the one, I knew that was it."
Bangor face Lisburn Distillery at Ballyskeagh on Monday as they bid to keep the pressure on PIL leaders Ballymacash Rangers in their pursuit of promotion.
