We didn’t capitalise: Magilton

Jim Magilton feels Bangor took incentive from Cliftonville’s failure to put the ball in the net during yesterday’s Sports Direct Premiership opener at Clandeboye Park.

Odhrán Casey twice struck the crossbar before the Seasiders claimed a half-time lead courtesy of Kyle Owens’ close-range finish and, despite Ryan Curran levelling shortly after the turnaround, a firm Ben Arthurs header restored the hosts’ advantage.

Debutant Adebayo Fapetu was next to hit the woodwork ahead of Bangor wrapping up the points when substitute Michael Morgan nodded in.

“We talked about taking the sting out of the game early on and I thought we did that particularly well,” said Magilton, whose side were largely in control of possession throughout the contest.

“When you are on top in games, you must score. We hit the woodwork a few times, we had a couple of half-chances, but we didn’t capitalise.

“That gave Bangor a real incentive and they took advantage. It was a poor goal from our point. We rallied after the break. I told the lads they needed to play with more tempo and we got back into the game.

“I thought we would kick on, but we didn’t. We didn’t defend crosses well. We were naive for Bangor’s last two goals and, organisationally, it was really poor from us.

“We’ve got to do better – we will do better – but it was a real lesson for us.”