Rangers have it all to do as they prepare for leaders Bangor

Losing the fixture was probably the real short straw option and manager Gary Haveron was not happy with the decision.

The Taylor’s Avenue pitch failed an inspection carried out by referee Simon Creaney and both sides will have to try it all again, leaving them with four games in hand over some teams.

And Haveron insists it’s going to be a long time to catch up.

“The referee decided it was not playable but, for the life of me, I can’t see why he did so.

There was an inky a wee strip that was dubious and I had always thought that, if 95 per cent of the pitch was pretty much okay, then the decision would be to play the game.

“He dropped the ball and it didn’t bounce which would have been fair enough, except for the fact he dropped it from three feet, when I thought he should have thrown the ball in the air.

“However, it’s his opinion which counts and we are where we are.

“And that’s us playing catch-up in a big way and we are now having to deal with that,” accepted Haveron, as he prepares for the biggest test imaginable.

The league table, at face value, shows just what a daunting assignment Saturday is for his men.

High-flying Bangor are a whopping 11 points ahead of Carrick Rangers and Garth Scates’ team have an unbelievably impressive scoring record as well, with 30 for and only 13 against in the 11 games they have played thus far.

Rangers, in contrast, have scored 13 times in their seven league matches and, equally commendably, have conceded just seven.

“They are a good side and have tremendous character as they showed on Saturday, coming from 1-0 down with five minutes to play to beat Armagh City.

“With only one match played in the last four weeks, we are going to Bangor with a lot to do, where a good performance and perhaps a win last Saturday would have given us the desired momentum for such a huge game.

“Somebody asked me at the weekend whether I would settle for a point right now, but I definitely would not because I always we want to win every game we play and I would back my boys to beat anybody.

“It’s clearly a match from which we especially want to take all three points, but it’s too early in the season to describe it as a must-win game.”