January signings transfer into Irish League club with contrasting backgrounds but shared goals
January arrivals Iestyn Hughes and Stephen Fallon may bring opposite ends of Irish League experience to Bangor but both offered encouraging signs during debut delight against Portadown.
A trip on Friday to take on league leaders Larne marks the follow-up to a weekend win over Portadown in which Fallon scored the game’s only goal off a corner-kick won by Hughes’ play.
Now with a decade of domestic service on his CV, Fallon’s home debut following a loan switch to Bangor from Coleraine arrived on the same afternoon Wales-born Hughes clocked his first Irish League minutes.
Both will be out to build on those initial positives across the second half of a Premiership season which has a Bangor side promoted as Championship champions sharing the same points tally as sixth-place Cliftonville.
“It’s been good, the lads have been great to be fair and it’s a lovely area, so I’m enjoying it,” said 23-year-old Hughes on the official club website. “I spoke to the Gaffer (Bangor boss Lee Feeney) and he sold the club and what they want to do and the plans going forward, so I’m happy to be here and, hopefully, I can contribute and help us push up the league now.”
Fallon’s match-winning moment arrived off a moment of invention, as described by Bangor’s Mick Morgan.
“Stevie wasn’t even meant to be in the box,” said Morgan on the club website. “Just the last second, he turned to me and said ‘you sit out’ and he ran straight in and he’s ran to the front post and got a good head on it and flicked it on, so it was a brilliant goal.”
Morgan is calling for continued collective contributions.
“We’re just taking it game by game, that’s all you can do,” said Morgan. “We’ve a big one next...Larne away.
"We’ve done well against Larne every game we’ve played, we’ve been unlucky with the results and they’ve scored a few cracking goals against us.
“But defensively, how we’ve set up, we’ve caused them some issues and, all being well, we’ll be able to get a result and just keep going.”
The 28-year-old Fallon is keen to build on his bright Bangor start.
“I’m happy to be here,” he said on the club website. “I just want to help any way I can...any experience that I have, I hope it can help.
"We hope we can continue to give a good account.”