Lee Feeney confident Bangor 'ready to rise to the pressure' as they look to secure Championship crown
Bangor boss Lee Feeney is confident his players are “ready to rise to the pressure” as they look to secure the Championship crown on Saturday afternoon.
The Seasiders were considered pre-season favourites to seal Premiership promotion and have lived up to that billing in some style.
Feeney’s men missed an opportunity to confirm champion status last weekend when they lost 3-2 to in-form Annagh United, but could get the job done against second-placed H&W Welders.
Any other result than a Bangor victory could mean the Championship title race goes down to the final weekend – a Welders win would see them move within two points while a draw at the Blanchflower Stadium combined with Annagh beating Limavady would mean Ciaran McGurgan’s men are still outsiders for top spot.
Securing their spot in Northern Ireland’s top-flight would complete Bangor’s dream Premiership return for the first time since 2009 and Feeney is confident his side can handle the occasion.
“I think we’ve been unlucky throughout the course of the split, we’ve been hard done by in the fine margins and every mistake we’re making, we’re getting punished for them,” said Feeney on the club’s website. “You need a little bit of luck to win a title and we’ve not really had any in the split so far.
“We’re certainly not relying on luck, you need a wee bit of quality as well, but we’ve not had luck on our side and the teams we’ve played have pounced on that a bit.
“But that’s been and gone now. I’m confident we’ll turn it around – at the same time, luck runs out and it doesn’t last forever, and I feel we’re due a bit of luck, we’re due a big win over someone.
“The players have had a really good training session on Tuesday night – they’re putting the work in, rolling their sleeves up and they want to get back to winning games again.
“And there’s no hiding it, this next couple of weeks are huge, but the players are showing the hunger and I think they’re ready to rise to the pressure, starting this Saturday.”
Feeney was nominated for Manager of the Year at last weekend’s NIFL Football Awards – a prize won by Rodney McAree – but Bangor did have cause for celebration with striker Ben Arthurs taking home a Player of the Year double.
Arthurs, who has scored 24 league goals this term, has been with the County Down club since their days of playing in the Ballymena & Provincial League and Feeney feels winning the title would be just rewards for his side.
“Hopefully, the best is yet to come from this season – and personally, I think the players would deserve the title, they’ve been brilliant and we know how tough this league is,” he added. “But we also know nothing’s going to be handed to us, so now is the time to roll our sleeves up and get over the line.
“We’re still in a really good position – it’s all in our own hands, we’re four points clear and, considering the start we had when we had one point from two games, this is where we’ve wanted to be.
“There’s pressure on other teams because they have to win games, we put the pressure on ourselves and that’ll be the case on Saturday – it’ll be a great game.”