Bangor were crowned champions of the Ballymena and Provincial Intermediate League on Thursday night.
A point would have been enough for Hugh Sinclair’s side to secure top spot, but the Seasiders left west Belfast with a well deserved three points after brushing aside St James Swifts.
The relentless Bangor side were playing their eighth match in just 16 days and they showed no signs of any fatigue as they as they took the game to the Swifts in the early stages on Thursday night.
Gerard McMullan warned the home side of his danger when he cut inside from the left flank but his shot flew across the face of the goal after three minutes.
Bangor were rewarded for their energetic start when they took the lead in the 18th minute. That man McMullan raced onto a lobbed pass from Mark Cooling, cut past the sprawling Mark McDonald and drilled the ball into the net to the delight of the sizable travelling Bangor support.
It should have been two for the Seasiders ten minutes later but the usually lethal Ben Arthurs pulled his shot wide of the target from 8 yards following a good pass from Ben Roy on the right wing.
That miss proved costly as Martin Murray raced past the Bangor defense to lob the ball over the stranded Darren Gibbons just past the half hour mark.
The home side grew in confidence as Bangor struggled to retain possession, but it was the Seasiders who created a great opportunity on the counter-attack. McMullan drove forward before releasing Scott McArthur but the winger clipped his left footed shot wide of the far post.
On the stroke of half time, former Bangor player Stephen O’Neill was inches off target with a low drive from 20 yards that whistled past the post.
As has often been the case in recent weeks, Bangor upped their game in the second half and the home side struggled to cope with the threat posed by Gerard McMullan. Just past the hour mark, McMullan was played through on the left by Gareth Beattie but Marc Maybin was equal to McMullan’s low shot.
The home goalkeeper spilled a low McMullan cross in the 64th minute which caused panic in the St James Swifts’ defence as Bangor retook the lead. Ben Arthurs kept his composure to find enough space in a crowded penalty area to curl into the bottom corner for his 37th goal of a remarkable season.
The result and the title were sealed in the 76th minute when Bangor captain Thomas Wray rose high in the penalty area to meet Mark Cooling’s in-swinging corner and power his header past Maybin. In the celebrations of Bangor’s third goal Wray received a booking for a clash with Mark Clarke which saw the Swifts’ midfielder receive his marching orders.
Bangor were able to control the final stages of the match as the players celebrated wildly with the jubilant Bangor crowd at the full time whistle, safe in the knowledge that they had written a new chapter in the club’s 100 year history.
Bangor: Gibbons, Johnston, Beattie, Arthur, Wray, Hislop (56′ Boylan), McArthur, Cooling, Arthurs (84′ Halliday), Roy (73′ Dickson), McMullan. Subs not used: Mallin, Burrows
Scorers: McMullan (18′), Arthurs (64′), Wray (76′)
Booked: Beattie, Cooling, Roy, Wray, Johnston
St James Swifts: Maybin, Wilson, McVeigh, Doran, Clarke, Mark McDonald, Donnelly, Dorrian, O’Neill, McCormack (73′ McGrath), Murray. Subs not used: Leckey, Hyland, Murphy, Martin McDonald.
Scorer: Murray (31′)
Booked: McCormack, Clarke, Dorrian
Sent off: Clarke
