27th October 2017 - Bangor City FC 0 v 1 Cefn Druids - Up at 6am, out at 7am. A long drive from Stockport to Bodnant Gardens in Conwy and some toast and a sausage butty. A meet up with some rangers and a fungus walk showing them what is what and, what isn't. 4 hours later and with wet feet it was a tootle to Conway RSPB for a birding wander and then to the Archway Chippy for a good belly filling feast - lovely. Finally, as darkness descended and my feet stunk worse than the bedsheets of Compo Clegg, ooh the crummy arsed bugger, we headed out for the 30 minute drive to the Nantporth Stadium, home of Bangor FC. A rare trip outside of the North West Counties League, I am certainly not starting that groundhopping lark, I have enough on my plate as it is but if the odd opportunity arises to see a few new teams, so be it. We entered the ground, found a decent perch and pondered the programme. A chill crept in and made sure we snuggled up, did I mention I had damp feet, crikey, I wish I would have changed my socks. Anyway, we looked forward to the kick off, we had had a fine day, all we needed now was a crackerjack match, what we got was thus.
A sketchy start saw an early free kick come the way of the home army. Nothing came of the punt but it did begin a period of pressure that tested the Druid's steel. Good strength was shown by Bangor's No 31 (Anderson Cayola) and he duly earned a dangerous looking free-kick, alas the strike was ruddy woeful and the cockles stayed far from warm. Bangor's No 4 (Luke Wall) was being particularly problematical and quite willing to work the flanks and run like a chicken with a perverse farmer in chase. Out of the Welsh wild yonder a Bangor bod committed a reckless challenge and allowed the Druids a free-kick. The ball was struck into the box, a rising dome connected and the goalkeeper had to block. The ball was dropped and up stepped the CD No 8 (Alec Mudimu) to tidily slip home. Against the run of play this goal may have been but the Cefn Druids seemed to me to be a tough nut to crack.
Now The Citizens pushed back with a long ball from the Druid's Midumu which was chased and won by the No 23 (Lewis Buckley) who let fly a shot that forced the host keeper to save and prevent a 2nd goal. The Cefn Druids came again when a fleet-footed fellow weaved forth and won a corner. The ball was belted in, cleared and commenced a counter-attack led by the Blue-backed No 9 (James Demetriou). He paused too long on the ball and allowed defenders to gather their bearings and, when his pass came to Cayola, the nut that was executed was off target. Another good burst from Bangor saw No 15 (Danny Holmes) denied at the last by a lunging back bod and from here the action petered out with both squads in too much of a rush and failing to find any controlled cohesion. The half-time came, is was a very middling affair thus far.
A Snicker and a shiver for half time, chilled to the marrow we were becoming, come on teams, get us warmed up ya buggers.
The first chance of the second period came the way of the guests, with Shaw having a crack and seeing the ball deflect wide - the corner was easily dealt with, oh crap, not more of the same please. A hectic mush ensued with any definite chances a rare commodity. The ball pinged from end to end, the Cefn Druids cultivated the first eye catching move with rapid passing fervour allowing Buckley to provide a finishing touch. The upright was struck and the goalkeeper was glad to grab the loose globe, Bangor needed to wake up real soon. Luke Wall had a rasp shot flash over and a free-kick on the edge of the Druid box was swung in moments later with the ball going towards the vacant top corner. The mittman was alert and stretched and somehow managed to palm away - good work squire. From here Bangor pressure came, a ball in and a mitter fumble, the gloved guardian was lucky not to see a striker nick a goal. The hosts now played with high intensity and several bonus punts were given and the odd attempt at goal chanced - all though we were lacking any genuine bollocks and time and opportunity slipped by. As the home bods pushed, a chance of a breakaway became highly probable which did happen not long after via the feet of a runner whom I missed the name and number of. By heck he didn't half gallop along and ended up in the opposite box with room to shoot. The finish was idle, it could have full stopped a fine moment, unlucky man, maybe next time! The game ground on, no action of any note came, when the ref blew I had no gripes and opted to select The Cefn Druid's handful, No 23 (Lewis Buckley) the Man of the Match Award due to his selfless running, hefty work-rate and consistently problematical weaving that gave the opponents rear so much to think about - it made more of a difference than what you may think. We buggered off, this wasn't the classic we anticipated, I reckon though we shall be back at some point...and why not?
FINAL THOUGHT - We are getting closer to Bonfire night but there were no fireworks on show here. The fuse was never truly lit and throughout the match one could count the real chances on goal on the hand of a double-fingered amputee - it wasn't high, as you may gather. The Ancients are a good organised squad and will be a real challenge for any team both home and away. Bangor FC have a good set up here and have some players with much zip but, pace is all well and good but if things are overly flustered and time is not taken to make a definite cutting pass then all the running and good will in the world will come to very little. This was a below average match that showcased two sides snuffing out each others potential sparks, next time I demand a few rockets up my arse - oh and some dry feet - did I mention those?
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