Bangor rounded off their 2018 with a valuable three points in their bid to seal promotion back to Irish League Football in 2019.
A Mark Cooling free kick – the midfielder’s 14th strike of the season – was enough for the Seasiders against a stubborn and well-organized Dunloy side.
The deserved victory means that Bangor completed the calendar year undefeated in the league and have now closed the gap on leaders Glebe Rangers.
Hugh Sinclair’s men were the dominant side at the Bangor Fuels Arena but they could not convert their superiority into goals.
Gerard McMullan, returning to the starting line-up in place of the unavailable Ben Roy, rattled the crossbar with a dipping 20-yard volley as early as the 7th minute while ten minutes later the winger was kept out by goalkeeper Conor McGilligan after cutting in from the left flank.
The visiting goalkeeper did well to judge a Cooling delivery from the left which just needed a touch from a Bangor player in a crowded penalty area before the stopper then kept out Michael Halliday low shot as Bangor pressed forward.
The accuracy of Mark Cooling’s set pieces was relentless as he twice came close to breaking the deadlock. His rasping 25-yard free kick was well held by McGilligan while the goalkeeper was glad to see Cooling’s in swinging corner glance off the face of the crossbar.
A sense of frustration was beginning to creep into Bangor’s game when Jack Mallin saw his 18-yard shot held by McGilligan at the second attempt as the Seasiders searched for the opener.
That goal looked to have arrived in the 39th minute but some brave defending from James McFerran, Kevin McCallister, and Duane Scott kept out McMullan and Halliday in a goalmouth scramble before Mallin sent the loose ball wide of the target.
Dunloy’s resilience was finally broken in the 46th minute when Cooling punished the visitors for a foul on Mallin 25 yards from goal – the dead ball expert had too much power and accuracy for McGilligan as he found the top corner.
Darren Gibbons was back in goal for the Seasiders and other than having to be alert to deal with a couple of threatening through balls he was rarely troubled. Dunloy’s Karl Fitzpatrick should have tested Gibbons in the 58th minute but the bustling forward fired wastefully over from the angle after finding space in the Bangor penalty area.
At the other end Mark Cooling saw a 20-yard drive fly just over while another trademark set piece was well dealt with by McGilligan as Bangor looked to kill the game.
The impressive Dunloy goalkeeper denied the hard-working McMullan once more before Chris Getty sent a header thudding against the crossbar from close range shortly after.
Bangor should have been out of sight by the time the sprawling McGilligan somehow kept out another Cooling effort with an unorthodox save and from the resultant corner, the goalkeeper was brave to block Ethan Boylan’s strike from point blank range.
The sucker punch that Bangor supporters feared was almost delivered by the visitors late on when substitute Declan McGarry got his head to an Eoin Gillan cross but fortunately for Bangor the winger could not keep his effort on target.
Bangor: Gibbons, Beattie, Dickson, Wray, Getty, Wasson, Mallin, Cooling, Halliday, Arthurs (65′ Boylan), McMullan. Subs not used: Long, Edgar, Calvert.
Scorer: Cooling (46′)
Booked: McMullan
Dunloy: McGilligan, Steven Dooey (84′ John McFerran), McAllister, Scott, James McFerran, Shane Dooey, Magee, E Gillan, Fitzpatrick (73′ McGarry), C Gillan (16′ O’Boyle), Molloy. Subs not used: Doherty, Hughes
Booked: E Gillan, McAllister
