McGonigle hat-trick seals vital win for Limavady

Jamie McGonigle's 22-minute hat-trick gave Limavady United a second Irish Premiership win in a row as they beat Bangor 3-1 at the Limavady Showgrounds. McGonigle's deft dink on three minutes broke the deadlock before two thunderbolts including a 25-yard free-kick paved the way for a vital three points for the Roesiders. Tiernan Mulvenna pulled one back for Bangor on 71 minutes, but the visitors were unable to convert their late pressure into goals. Limavady, who had Stephen Lowry sent off late on, are now ninth in the table with their second win of the season, while Bangor stay 11th and are still awaiting their first league win of the campaign. McGonigle's first-half hat-trick paves way for Roesiders win Limavady got off to the perfect start on three minutes with McGonigle playing a neat one-two with Alfie Gaston, racing clear before expertly chipping the ball over Solis-Grogan. Their lead was doubled on 11 minutes as Philip Lowry regained possession in the middle of the park before finding McGonigle, who blasted to the bottom right-hand corner of the net. McGonigle completed his hat-trick on 22 minutes, unleashing an unstoppable strike from a 25 yard free-kick, giving Solis-Grogan no chance. The Roesiders had a chance to further extend their lead before the break as Stephen Lowry's header from Daniel Lafferty's corner was tipped over the crossbar. Limavady looked to be easing towards a comfortable victory before Oisin Devlin's effort cannoned off the crossbar but Mulvenna was on hand to fire home the rebound on 71 minutes. Philip Lowry made a brave block on the line to deny Alfie Mitchell from close range as Bangor looked to get back into the game. Limavady were reduced to 10 with five minutes to play as Stephen Lowry was shown a straight red card for a heavy challenge on Devlin, but the Roesiders held on for a massive three point. What the managers said Limavady United manager Paul Owens: "Happy with the result, maybe not the performance. In the first half I thought we were brilliant and I don't think you'll see a brilliant hat-trick anywhere. The second-half performance wasn't there, but at this level of football it's all about the results. "It was good to kick on today and I challenged the players are we going to be one of those teams that floats about and wins here and there or are we going to back it up and we did that. "Jamie (McGonigle) brings that star quality to us and he's been full-time for the last few years and he's a different animal now and he's scored three brilliant goals, he has that real stardust quality." Bangor manager Lee Feeney: "The damage was done in the first half, when you're three-nil down so early in the game you're going to have to find a lot to get back into the game, but I thought the second half performance was so much better. "Jamie McGonigle was the difference with three top class goals, but from a personal point of view we were so, so bad and I am still shocked."