10/09/2026
MATCH REPORT – Bangor FC Ladies 4-2 Ballymoney United Ladies
Northern Ireland Women's Football Association Championship – Wednesday, 9th September
Goalscorers: Emi Wynne 4', 41', Amber Dempster 22', 70'; Abby Alexander 63', 90+3'
Bangor FC Ladies signed off their 2026 season with an entertaining 4-2 win over Ballymoney United Ladies at Clandeboye Park in their final NIWFA Championship match of the campaign on Wednesday night.
Emi Wynne had the first chance of the game when she cut in from the left inside the opening minute, but a Ballymoney defender got in the way and blocked the winger's low shot. Wynne got in again a couple of minutes later and curled towards the top right corner, missing by a matter of inches as Bangor's bright start continued.
But Bangor's – and Wynne's – persistence paid off on four minutes with the opening goal of the game. She got in at goal and shaped a low shot towards the bottom left corner, keeping her cool to put the hosts into an early lead.
Amber Dempster placed just wide with 12 minutes gone as she and the Ballymoney goalkeeper Layla O'Hara competed for the ball, while a minute later, Janine Jess placed just past the post from around 22 yards out. Jess then placed a looping effort high over the bar after Wynne cut the ball back across the box.
But with 22 minutes, Bangor doubled the lead. Dempster showed great intuition to flick over the head of the Ballymoney defender to get facing goal, and she then slotted low into the bottom right corner for a sumptuous finish.
The next quarter of an hour was quiet with little by way of goalscoring action, save for one moment when Dempster almost capitalised on a loose backpass as O'Hara just about got to it first, with the next shot of the game coming from Dempster on 36 minutes after Jess had played low into her path for her to strike a shot straight at the Ballymoney goalkeeper.
With 39 minutes gone, Robyn McFadden saw a shot deflected behind for a corner which Naomi Donnan sent in from the right, playing short to Dempster who played a low cross that found Jess at the back post, and she drew a low save from O'Hara as she let fly.
But Jess had a crucial hand in Bangor's third two minutes later. She had made a bursting run down the right and crossed into the box where Wynne was lurking, and she placed neatly into the net for her second goal of the night.
With 44 on the clock, Dempster drew a strong two-handed stop from O'Hara, and Bangor held their three-goal advantage until the interval.
Heidi Wynne and Tallon McMahon came on in a double change for Bangor at half-time, with Hannah Hewitt and Sarah Crooks coming off, as play restarted for the second half.
Bangor continued to show intent in attack at the start of the second without creating much in front of goal, and McMahon showed alertness in defence to close down a Ballymoney attacker who looked to break through at Lucy Winton in goals just before the hour mark.
The Seasiders were almost caught out at the back when Amanda Morton's pass out from defence was intercepted by a Ballymoney forward, but she sliced her attempt at a first-time shot and the ball trickled away.
On 63 minutes, Ballymoney won a free-kick on the right – and from it, they found a way back into the game. The set-piece was given after Jess upended the Ballymoney forward, it was sent into a crowded six-yard box and it was headed by Abby Alexander past Winton from close range as the visitors got a goal back in the contest.
Within moments, Bangor almost restored their three-goal advantage – Dempster seeing a shot hooked off the line but deemed not to have crossed it by the referee – before Katie Hawthorne came on for Toni Stewart in a 68th-minute substitution in midfield.
But Dempster wasn't to be denied with 70 on the clock. The ball was threaded in behind the Ballymoney defence and she had room to run, and she picked her spot – firing into the bottom right for her second of the game.
Dempster nearly turned provider shortly after as she played in Hawthorne, who was very unfortunate to see her shot crash off the underside of the bar for what would have been her first goal for the club, before Maja Wyspianska replaced Emi Wynne in another late change.
Ballymoney did have the final say, with Alexander producing an impressive shot on the turn that went in off the inside of the post in the third minute of second-half stoppage-time.
For the remainder of the contest, the hosts saw things out and made it a winning end to the campaign, picking up the three points to move them up to 40 in total having already guaranteed second place in the standings.
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