Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NEEDED WIN FOR ROE MEN
minute but we didn’t want to give Bangor opportunities to get ahead and end up having to chase ourselves.
“We actually did that to them and did it quite well and they ended up chasing the game.
“When we went 1-0 up I was really comfortable and relaxed and the second goal just killed the game for me.”
The hosts had arguably dominated the opening exchanges but they couldn’t make a valuable connection from any of a series of corners.
Both sides then had openings midway through the half but failed to find the breakthrough as they went in for half-time locked at 0-0.
The deadlock was broken on the hour mark, however, as Nicky Hudson made the most of the freedom of the Bangor box to head past Gibbons.
Ten minutes later it was two when Zach Barr (right) held his nerve from the penalty spot to give Portstewart the cushion they were looking for.
And valiant defending ensured they headed back to the north coast with all three points.
Law added: “I was absolutely delighted with the team performance.
“From 1 to 16, to a man, we stood up and learnt from the mistakes we made in other games when we were 2-0 up.
“I thought we were well-deserved winners in the end up.
“To a man we were better than them and created more chances.
“The first half was cat and mouse with not many clear-cut chances but I knew we had the quality going forward to hurt them.”
They’ve a Craig Memorial Cup quarter-final to come in a couple of weeks’ time but this coming Saturday brings the Match Intermediate Cup back into focus and for the Seahawks that brings them up against the young guns of Warrenpoint Town.
The border outfit will make the long trip to Mullaghacall for the opening round tie, and will know they’ll find a club with a burning desire to do something in this season’s competition.
Last year Portstewart reached the final, knocking Queen’s University out in the semi, before the powers that be kicked them out for fielding an ineligible player.
It was a hammer blow for the Seahawks at the time and the hurt from that remains
“The way the league is structured, we only have one league game in September, October and November so the cups aren’t a distraction,” said Law, “but if you get knocked out of a competition early you end up with quite a few Saturdays with no game.
“For us it’s really important we kick on in the Intermediate Cup.
“We had a bit of a sickener last year in it in relation to getting to the final and then being put out.
“The players will certainly take that on board no matter who we’re playing.
“We will treat Warrenpoint U20s with the utmost respect and we’ll go and play them as if we’re playing
Bangor.
“Hopefully we can get through to the next round and we can keep going in that competition.”