Late Equaliser Denies Bryansburn

Bryansburn 1^st XI returned to league action with a home game against Colin Valley on a heavy Ballywooley pitch but despite leading 2-0 at the break they were pinned back by a late equaliser that saw the visitors’ snatch a point.

Bryansburn started off brightly and took an early lead after only six minutes when Coard showed great skill to place a shot into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box.
‘Burn continued to press and the front three of Tolson, Morrison and Mallon were causing the visitors major problems with a host of chances being created and only a combination of last gasp defending and a great save by the visitors’ keeper preventing the home side going further ahead.
The midfield three of Coard, Tyson and G McMullan were winning the battle in the centre of the park and the defence was well organised restricting Colin valley to very few opportunities. On the one occasion when the away side did threaten Close pulled off a smart save.
After almost half an hour of constant pressure Bryansburn extended their lead when Higginson met a defensive clearance and slammed the ball into the top corner from fully 25 yards out to make it 2-0. The home side lost Tolson to injury just before half time which was a major blow as he had been causing the Colin Valley defence a lot of problems. The last few minutes of the half saw ‘Burn push for more goals but the score remained 2-0 at half time.
The second half started in the worst possible way with Colin Valley pulling a goal back from a free kick conceded on the edge of the box and this gave them the lift they needed and they started to take control. However, Bryansburn were defending well and were able to break with pace on the counter attack.
‘Burn were unlucky to not extend their lead on a number of occasions most notably when Morrison out jumped the visitors’ defence only to see his header come back off the post with the keeper well beaten. With Bryansburn unable to get the third goal they needed to kill the game off, it meant that the visitors’ remained in the contest
and they pressed for an equaliser. Disaster then struck when a good passage of play and a smart finish saw Colin Valley draw level at 2-2 with only four minutes remaining of the ninety.
Things could have got worse for the home side as Colin Valley then had a goal disallowed for offside in the last minute. The decision led to a loss of discipline with a visiting player being sent off for dissent and their Assistant Manager also seeing red following the final whistle for the same offence.
Bearing in mind that Bryansburn had dominated the majority of the contest, this has to go down as two points dropped. Best for ‘Burn was Morrison who put in another fantastic shift up front.    

The 2^nd XI were understrength for their visit to high-flying Bangor YM ll but still put in a creditable performance before going down 2-0.

YM had the better of the exchanges throughout with ‘Burn offering little in the way of an attacking threat. Seventeen year-old C.Ferris and Stewart both made their debuts after recent transfers to the Club while W.Ferris made his first start for the second string. There were good performances from Scott and Ballantine while Bryansburn’s “Man of the Match” was seventeen year-old keeper Douglas who kept the visitors’ in the game throughout.

Bangor YM did not manage to open the scoring until five minutes before the break when a quickly taken free-kick and cross from the left saw a forward get in front of his marker to score. ‘Burn remained in the game at 1-0 until just before the end of the match when a terrific free-kick into the top corner gave Douglas no chance. Seventeen year-old Greer was given a run-out and S.Ferris made a cameo appearance for his first Bryansburn appearance in over twenty years.

The 3^rd XI booked a place in the Semi-final of the Frank Moore Memorial Cup with an impressive 3-0 victory away to a strong Queens Grads lll side.

‘Burn opted for a new 3-1-4-2 formation and the tactic paid off as the home side struggled to break ‘Burn down to the extent that they had only one shot on target over the course of the ninety minutes. Key to this was the performances of the back three of Patterson, McComb and Cole who were outstanding throughout winning every ball whether on the ground or in the air.

Bryansburn won the toss and elected to play with the blinding sun behind them making it a very difficult first half for the Grads defenders and keeper. ‘Burn strived for an early advantage with several long range shots testing the home keeper but Queens stood firm through the early period of pressure. Then came the one Queens chance of the match when a forward broke through but Steventon made a comfortable save.

After that ‘Burn remained on top despite creating few clear opportunities. Scott fired in a couple of good crosses from the left, one of which saw McGimpsey fire just the wrong side of the upright, while on the other flank a good cross from Beattie nearly led to a breakthrough.

Dempster headed a Scott cross inches over before the opening goal came on the half hour mark. Cardwell tried his luck from distance and the sun played its part as the keeper failed to hold the shot and the ball squirmed over the line. The visitors’ held on to their lead comfortably to the break.

‘Burn remained in control in the second half but despite a lot of possession and dominance failed to get the vital second goal. That was until the 58^th minute when Cardwell headed home an excellent Beattie cross from close range to make it 2-0.

Bryansburn then pressed for a third goal to kill the game off with Beattie and Scott dangerous on the flanks but apart from a Dempster volley they failed to register anything on target.

Dickson entered the fray as ‘Burn temporarily moved to a 4-1-4-1 formation to snuff out the attempts of the home side to get back in the game. Then, once a period of pressure was seen off, Gillespie was introduced to join Cardwell up front as the side reverted to the tried and tested 4-4-2 formation for the closing stages. Sixteen year-old Reece Dempster was also given a run out as Bryansburn saw out the game comfortably enough.

The icing on the cake came in the last minute when Gillespie produced a sublime lob to give the keeper no chance and complete the scoring for a 3-0 win.

This was the second great team performance in a row by the 3^rd XI with all fourteen guys playing their part. ‘Burn now await the Semi-final draw to see if they play Abbey Villa lll, 43^rd OB or Agape, or Vision Athletic or 8^th OB in the last four. 

On a bright and crisp East Belfast afternoon the 4^th XI maintained their title challenge with a hard fought, albeit entertaining, 2-1 win at Vision Athletic ll.

From the outset it was recognised that the height and strength of the Vision team would cause problems in what was a must win game. ‘Burn started brightly on the huge pitch, but after only seven minutes successive right wing attacks almost led to the home side taking the lead. The pacey winger was causing problems with strong attacks from midfield and Black in nets had to be in good form to prevent the opener.  For the next 25 minutes the visitors struggled to maintain possession and following a defensive blunder, ‘Burn found themselves one down just after the half hour mark.  Bogle and Dickinson's experience helped settle the young Bryansburn team and following a parried save by the keeper, Bogle reacted quickly to knock in the equaliser.

The second period proved to be just as difficult as the first for Bryansburn and the match had a very competitive and entertaining edge for the neutral.  The travelling Bryansburn support were vocal in their encouragement and with twenty minutes remaining Lowry latched onto a great pass to skip past the last defender and fire past the custodian to give ‘Burn the lead.

Parkinson replaced the hard working Gardiner and immediately his pace caused problems and an effort on goal was pushed away by the keeper.  Armstrong replaced the tireless Lowry and provided an escape route for the last ten minutes.  Deep in injury time the home side had a chance to equalise but a volley whistled just past the post much to the huge relief of Bryansburn.

‘Burn must continue in winning ways for the remaining four matches of this League Campaign if they are to have a chance of the title. All four contenders have games against each other in what will be an interesting finish to the campaign in the coming weeks.  This was a great all round team performance with Lowry 'the pick of the bunch'.

Training continues at Bangor Sportsplex tonight (Thur) from 7pm to 8pm and on Tuesday from 8pm to 9.30pm. Players are reminded that attendance in training and payment of any outstanding debts will be taken into consideration when teams are selected for Saturday. Last week a number of players were unable to get a game despite so many players being unavailable.

This Saturday the 1^st XI and 2^nd XI have league games, opponents are unknown at the time of going to press. In the Down Area league the 3^rd XI travel to unbeaten league leaders North Down and the 4^th XI are home to Comber YM ll in the quarter-final of the Mervyn Bassett Cup.

Flight times for the annual Club trip have been changed by the airline. Those going should speak to Alan Dempster for details. The current price has now risen to £135 for return flights to Newcastle and three nights in a Travelodge Hotel but please note that with the number of flights on each day reduced from three to one the remaining places will soon go as well as the price increasing. Anyone wishing to book on the trip from Friday 30^th May to Monday 2^nd June please contact Alan Dempster.

Finally two social events have been organised in the Clubhouse over the next month. On 1^st February there will be a Poker Night and on 22^nd February a Pool Tournament. Those interested in either of these competitions should give their name to Jonny Ferris.