Rangers aiming to bounce back from Welders defeat

CARRICK Rangers were unceremoniously knocked off the top of the Ladbrokes.com Championship 1 table on Saturday when they suffered first defeat of the league campaign, going down to a solitary goal against Harland and Wolff Welders at Tillysburn Park. But, disappointing as it is, that's not something that has grossly upset plans at Taylor's Avenue.

"Harland and Wolff Welders have a decent squad. They are one of the toughest teams to beat in what is a fiercely competitive league and there will be a lot of good teams who will go there and come away with less than they hoped for. So it's not such a terrible setback," assured manager Stephen Small.

"We didn't perform as an attacking force they way we have been doing, but there were mitigating circumstances because we lost winger Paul Heatley to injury early in the game and that was quickly followed by an injury to Stephen O'Neill - another key member of our attack. That left us with a lack of momentum up front and we lacked the options to pose them problems.

"We defended pretty well and they didn't trouble us very much, to be honest. But they got the goal and we couldn't match it, despite trying very hard in a difficult situation."

Small insisted he is not going to agonise over the defeat and praised his squad for their efforts so far this season.

"I'm not going to get too worried about a defeat because we have done very well and been consistently good in the quality of football served up. Maybe I'd have reason to be annoyed if we played that way for four or five games but I'm optimistic we'll bounce back fairly quickly.

"I know what we're capable of and Saturday's performance didn't live up to that standard and the players acknowledged that. But we went into this game unbeaten in four since the cup defeat to Larne and I think I'd settle for being unbeaten in four more before we encounter another problem," he said.

Next up is a Saturday league fixture against Banbridge Town at Taylor's Avenue and it's a match he grudgingly concedes really is a must-win to keep their lofty Championship One title ambitions on track.

"Banbridge have improved since last season and we'll have to play well to get a result. But I would accept that it's one we would feel we need to win, albeit keeping uppermost in mind the fact that every team in this division is extremely difficult to beat. There are certainly no fixtures you can look at as being formalities anymore.

"Heatley and O'Neill are improving but it's hard to know what their prospects are for Saturday but, if their don't make it, it's an opportunity for guys like Kyle McDowell, Ciaran Boyd and Glenn Hand to prove that they all have their own personal ambitions by stepping up to the plate" added Small.

Meanwhile, Carrick Rangers' fixture against Bangor at Clandeboye Park, scheduled for October, 23 has been moved to Monday October, 25, due to Carrick's CIS Cup macth with Portadown on the Saturday.