Wakehurst U-17s set up ‘derby’ clash in semi-final

In the North West, the U9s continue to string together some impressive results, beating Portrush 4-2. Both of the U8 teams again had a successful day with each of them turning in top performances.

The U12s are in a rich vein of form at present and this week drew with current League leaders, Moyola Park. The U11s and both U10 teams were not so fortunate when they lost their matches against some strong opposition.

In the Lisburn League, Mark Lecky’s U13s dominated long periods of the game before eventually losing their match to current League leaders, Hillsborough Boys.

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Both Northend U8 teams were involved in tournaments at Ballysally. Both teams did extremely well in very cold conditions with strong winds. Special mention goes to Northend Youth who remained unbeaten throughout the day.

In Section 1, Northend United U8s played against Bertie Peacocks and Dungiven Celtic with the following results: Northend United 1 (Pearse McAuley), Bertie Peacocks 3; Northend United 0, Dungiven Celtic 0.

Panel: P Murphy, J Mark, A McPeake, C Burnside, P McAuley (c), C Hendron, C McKeown,

In Section 2, Northend Youth U8s played in a Mini Blitz tournament against North West teams Dungiven Celtic Colts and Portrush

Results: Northend Youth 2 (Daniel Patterson, Pol Pius Donegan), Dungiven Celtic Colts 0; Northend Youth 4 (Patterson 2, Sean McDermott 2), Portrush 2.

Panel: K McAlister, L Devlin, C Lyness, D Higgins, E Anderson, PP Donegan, S McDermott, D Patterson.

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Portrush 2, Northend 4: After falling behind early on, Northend soon levelled the score when Jay McKeown hit a great shot that flew in of the post.

In the second half, Northend fell behind very quickly to a goal that came off the post and hit one of the Northend player to end up in the back of the net.

However Northend came straight back at Portrush and pulled level when Zack Erwin got on the score sheet with a well taken goal.

The game then went in Northend’s favour as Zack Erwin headed the ball against a Portrush player which then flew into the goal.

Northend finished the game off when Jay McKeown linked up with Issac Wylie and after McKeown’s shot had been saved, Wylie followed up and fired his shot high into the net. MOM - Zach Erwin, Conor McGarry.

Northend: C Wilson, B O’Neill, S Bristow, I Wylie, J McKeown, C McGarry, Z Erwin, T Boyd.

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Northend 1, Portrush 3: Northend once again gave themselves a mountain to climb with two soft goals in the first half of this game.

The Ballymena boys pulled a goal back early in the second half when a Jack Adams ‘rocket’ was spilt by the keeper and Owen Campbell was on hand to force the ball into the net but Northend were undone near the end when Portrush scored a third from a free kick. MOM - Owen Campbell.

Northend: C Wilson, D Magill, K Cosgrove, C McMillan, P Bristow, J Adams, O Campbell, J McKeown.

Northend Youth 2, Limavady Colts 6: Northend went infront as early as the second minute when Lewis Hector fired a unstoppable shot into the bottom corner but the Ballymena boys paid the penalty for some sloppy passing as they trailed 3-1 at the break.

The second half got worse for Northend as they continued to give the ball away and Limavady were able to score three more goals before Ciaran Martin scored the goal of the game when he dribbled the ball around three players before coolly chipping the ball over the keeper. MOM - Coire Mellon

Northend: C Mellon, K Campbell, C O’Brien, S Crawford, L Hector, C Martin, C McKillop, B Harkin, L Allen.

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Northend 2, Coleraine Academy 6: Northend, playing into a strong win in the first half, struggled to get the ball clear and they found themselves 3-0 down before Pat Ferris pulled one back before the break.

The score moved to 5-1 in the second half before Northend scored a second, when Pierse Esler forced home the rebound after Ferris’ shot had been saved by the keeper but Coleraine had the final say with a sixth goal. MOM - Pat Ferris.

Northend: E McSparron, C Higgins, R McQuillan, F McQuillan, C Kilgore, H Wylie, C Campbell (c), J Wilson, J Montgomery, P Ferris, P Esler

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Northend 1, Moyola Park 1: Playing against the league leaders, Northend took the lead after 10 minutes with a rare left-footed drive by Conor McDonald from the edge of the penalty area.

Moyola equalised in the second half when a long-range shot was parried by Blues keeper Sean Higgins but the rebound fell to a Moyola striker who scored from close range. MOM - Conor McDonald

Northend: S Higgins (c), J Kirkpatrick, C Mc Donald, C Meeke, C Forsythe, O Connolly, J Coates, C Metrustry, M Stewart, C Killough, R Gamble, J Scullion.

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Northend 0, Hillsborough Boys 5: Despite the scoreline, Northend produced an excellent performance against the league leaders but paid a heavy penalty for not converting their own chances. MOM - Tom Patchett

Northend: C McGarry (c), S Frew, S Lecky, R McCluney, J Brady, M Willighan, N Craig, C Gordon, R Iovu, T Patchett, R Campbell, P Kyle, T McAuley.

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Wakehurst 3, Cookstown Youth 1: Wakehurst found themselves a goal down after twenty minutes when they conceded a needless free-kick twenty yards out and the Cookstown striker found the top corner of the Wakehurst net.

The Ballymena boys responded in the second half with Niall Swann scroring from the penalty spot after Johnny Hanlon was brought down while trying to force home a saved peanlty taken by Andy Neill.

Wakehurst went ahead when Hanlon delivered a free-kick and found Thomas Brady unmarked in the Cookstown box and he duly hammered the ball into the corner of the net.

Wakehurst made the game safe when Kyle Jackson got on the end of another Stephen Hare corner.

Wakehurst: A Tolan, J Hanlon, A McAvoy, K McCollum, N Swann (c), J Cameron, T Brady, R Gault, K Jackson, S Hare, A Neill, L Scroggie, R Swan.

* Northend congratulate Kyle Jackson who scored for Wakehurst STrollers on Saturday afternoon.