Title race hots up with vital win

Cookstown 0

IT might have been a dismal contest but Bann have done themselves plenty of favours by taking this vital win over the Premier League leaders.

Dane Ward’s solitary goal has put the locals in an excellent position to take the honours at the end of the season. They sit four points behind Cookstown with two games in hand over the table toppers.

Scott Forbes supplied Ward who stroked the ball home on the reverse stick - and that was about all that there was to discuss of the game. Both sides were devoid of chances until Ward’s 53rd minute strike.

“It wasn’t the greatest game of hockey but it was a great three points for us,” said coach Mark Tumilty. “At this stage of the season it’s the points that are more important to us than performances I suppose.

“I thought we looked very heavy legged but we did well to get the win. It was a superb goal by Dane to get the points; I thought Gareth Lennox in particular did well in goal and Philip Brown continued to be outstanding as he has been over the last few weeks for us.”

It’s a great way to start off a vital week for Banbridge. Tomorrow night they travel to North Down (7.45pm) and on Saturday they are on their travels again with a trip to Raphoe.

Two wins are essential for Banbridge if they are to maintain their push for Ulster honours, especially with Lisnagarvey and Cookstown playing each other on Tuesday night.

“It’s as simple as this - we need six wins from our last six games. It’s in our own hands,” said former Garvey coach Tumilty.

“Banbridge have always for some reason dropped points against these sides that we really should be beating but the incentive is there for our boys to get the wins.”

The Burney Cup final means that some of his schoolboys will have a long day ahead of them but it’s nothing Tumilty is concerned about.

“It’s nothing different from what they would be doing on a Saturday so I’m not worried,” he said. “I’ll still be naming the five schoolboys in my squad for North Down and hoping that they will get past Campbell early on.”