No seaside joy for Whites

The Whites, featuring Colin’s brother Darren, went down 3-2 at Bangor, having been 3-0 behind during the second half before Sean Southam and Ryan Corrigan netted.

Bangor starting the game with three former Whites players in the starting eleven in Mark Cooling, Andy Hall and Jordan Forsythe.

Martin Jones had the first chance of the game as he shot across the home goalkeeper after only five minutes the ball going narrowly going wide of the goal. This chance was followed up by Stephen Doyle who blasted a powerful shot going over Paul Cairnduff crossbar.

The Seasiders took the lead after Andy Hall’s floated cross found Andy Morrow who headed acutely past the diving Ryan McBride.

The first half overall was a very lacklustre affair with the Whites not creating any sort of good chance until 38 minutes as a Darren Smyth cross beat Cairnduff but the Jones could not make any connection to equalise.

Bangor had a superb chance to make it two as Hall’s corner nearly found the jumping Colin Nixon but his brother Darren beat him to the ball to clear away from goal.

Distillery had the next half chance as Darren Smyth’s fancy footwork found Jones but he shot straight into the mid-drift of Cairnduff. Both sides were working exceptionally hard in the warm conditions and the 3G pitch made for some good possession football being played by both sides.

Tommy Kincaid made a change at half time bringing off Darren Smyth and replacing him with Robbie White, the ex-Larne striker hoping to make a real impact.

However, before he could settle, Bangor made it 2-0 as a Distillery defender slipped on the edge of the area and the alert Hall charged onto the ball to pass into the net from 12 yards, leaving McBride with no chance of saving.

A mountain to climb then for the Whites to retrieve anything out of the game and the men in yellow nearly had a third as Long found Morrow but his shot flicked off the turf and sailed wide.

The Whites relief was short lived as Bangor made it three when Richard Gibson let fly from 20 yards out with the ball smashing into the top corner.

McBride made another superb save to deny Long as the keeper spread himself superbly to block the shot.

Lisburn Distillery then pulled one back as a cross from the left was swung over and it found Sean Southam whose header cannoned in off the crossbar. Doubtless this goal will give him a new-found confidence after a recent spell on the sidelines with injury.

The Whites were back in the game and got a further lifeline as they were awarded a penalty when Colin Nixon handled in the box. Up stepped Ryan Corrigan to send the keeper the wrong way.

Surely not a comeback for Distillery? The introduction of White was proving somewhat a tactical masterstroke by Kincaid as his presence was creating problems for the Bangor back line.

There was, however, to be no equaliser for Distillery on a very warm day at the Bangor Fuels Arena. The Whites were very unlucky not to come back on an afternoon of frantic and, at times, flowing fluent football from both sides.

Despite the defeat against one of the league’s top sides, the Whites produced a very encouraging performance.

LISBURN DISTILLERY: McBride, Derry, McIlhagga, Burns, Nixon, O”Connor, Bingham, Smith, Jones, Thompson , Doyle

Subs: White (for Smyth), Southam (for McIlhagga), Wilson, Corrigan (for Doyle), Kopyt.