'I know what he can bring to the table' - Lee Feeney celebrates debut delight with promoted Bangor looking up the league table
Lee Feeney’s Bangor have eyes on a top-six finish from a first season back on the Irish League senior stage for 17 years.
They moved level on points with sixth-placed Cliftonville in the table – on 31 points -- after racking up their ninth win of the league campaign against Portadown at Clandeboye Park on Saturday.
Midfielder Stevie Fallon headed the priceless winning goal on his home debut, after joining on loan from Coleraine.
“I thought we thoroughly deserved the win,” said a delighted Feeney. “We were excellent in the first half, but the second half became a big scrappy and it was probably always going to come down to one big moment to win it.
“But I was happy the way we went about our business. We handled the ball well; we were good in possession. I just wish we could have scored a few more goals.
“Apart from the last kick of the game, I don’t think Gareth Deane was troubled all day which is testament to how well we defended.
“It was a big result for us, but we’ll not get carried away. There is still a lot of football to be played this season.”
Feeney was also full of praise for Fallon – the former Linfield man is attempting to put two years of injury agony behind him.
“Stevie’s injury problems have been well documented,” added Feeney. “I watched him training a few weeks ago when we played Coleraine, so we took a chance on him.
“I know what he can bring to the table, it’s maybe different to what we have at the club. He’s been there and done it with big clubs.
“He is still at a good age; we thought he would be a good asset, but it’s important we manage him well. He’s now back to part-time, so he gets more rest and recovery, which is important.”
Portadown manager Niall Currie insisted his boys never reached the levels he has come to expect from them.
“We’ve good footballers in our team, but we certainly didn’t create enough,” he said. “We’ve got to start picking up points from tight games like that.
“There wasn’t a great deal of chances created by either side...it looked a nil-nil game the whole way.
“But we’ve had six or seven games like that, with very little between the teams, but we’ve come away with nothing in most of them.
“We must get back to the basics.”
Currie added: “I’m not going to criticise the boys because they gave everything – there was nothing wrong with the endeavour; there was nothing wrong with the effort put in.
“It was a really poor goal to concede from our point, and I think that just about summed up our day. Fallon was one of the smallest players on the pitch and he was allowed time and space to score.”