Carl Lamb celebrates his goal with Bangor duo Paul Smith and Martin Beattie in a tangle.
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Lamb haunts his former club
CARL Lamb seized a rare chance to lead the line and help maintain The New Saints' two-point lead at the top of the Welsh Premier.
Making only his fourth start of the campaign, Lamb proved a thorn in the side of Bangor all afternoon, dominant in the air, winning countless balls as well as laying on the first goal and scoring the second against the club that released him 18 months ago.
The Citizens arrived at Park Hall on the back of a 13-match unbeaten league run, but could have few complaints about the manner of their defeat.
Both sides had chances in the early encounters with Scott Ruscoe agonisingly wide from Alfie Carter's lay-off, while City's Les Davies shot straight at Paul Harrison and was then denied by Duane Courtney's timely header.
But it was the hosts who took the lead on 21 minutes. Lamb's run past a defender ending with his shot being parried by City keeper Paul Smith, but the striker squared the rebound for Carter to finish from 10 yards out.
Keeper Harrison saved another Davies shot low down and the visitors almost levelled five minutes before half-time when Ashley Stott headed wide of an unguarded net after a mix-up between Harrison and defender Phil Baker.
Similar confusion in the Bangor area just after the restart almost saw Lamb capitalise after combining with John Toner, while Baker headed over from close range from the resulting corner.
Toner was also narrowly wide with a glancing header for TNS before Lamb notched the second on 69 minutes with a near post header from Luke Holden’s corner, the substitute’s first touch.
But City almost grabbed an unlikely share of the spoils in injury time. Stott was allowed to rise unmarked to head in a cross from Peter Hoy, who was inches wide with another header in the game’s final action.
TNS boss Ken McKenna was delighted with the win: "Bangor are a very good side and difficult to play against," he said.
"I thought Carl Lamb and John Toner showed good movement up front to open them up." |
