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Limavady United 2 Northend United 1 Saturday 13th April 2013

Northend under-11s made the trip to Ballysally on Saturday morning to face hot favourites Limavady in the quarter-finals of the NWCDYL Cup. The young Blues were undaunted by their opponent's favourites tag, as they themselves had been crowned Challenge League winners the previous week.

Both teams began the game very cautiously, neither wishing to concede the all-important first goal. On the 20th minute disaster struck when Limavady broke the deadlock to go one-nil up. Northend rallied and had a few chances of their own, before a speculative long range Limavady effort deflected off an unlucky Northend defender and past the helpless Blues keeper. To their credit the young Blues did not let their heads go down and indeed should've closed the gap to the minimum when Robert Iovu controlled a beautiful volley goal-bound, only for the Limavady keeper to make the save of the day. The referee even commented at the interlude how well the ball had been struck. Half-time score Limavady 2 Northend Utd 0

During the break the management spoke positively of the first half performance. The boys responded and piled on the pressure. Limavady are a team who are not used to losing but knew they were in for a torrid half when wave after wave of Northend attacks left them creaking. This pressure eventually paid dividends when Oisin Connolly brought the score back to 2-1 with a superb strike. Northend continued to pile on the pressure but unfortunately the equaliser never came and Limavady progressed to the Cup semi-finals.

The Northend Blues finished the game and indeed their season, gutted that their performance hadn't provided the scoreline it merited. They did however prove they are a match for any under-11 team in the NWCDYL league.

The management thanked the North-West CDYL organisers for the 2012/13 season and conveyed their appreciation for the platform which has allowed the squad to progress to the extent they have. The small-sided game format has undoubtedly been a major success. They also stressed the importance to this young squad on the merits of remaining together and continuing to progress within the Northend United Youth FC development scheme

Man of the Match: Callum Forsythe

Panel: S Higgins, C Killough, J Kirkpatrick, J Coates, M Stewart, J Givens, C Forsythe, R Iovu, C Metrustry, O Connolly(c), J Scullion, C Meeke, L Spurgeon

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Larne Soccer Sevens Tuesday 2nd April 2013

Northend Under 11's went to the Easter 7 a side tournament in Larne full of confidence after an excellent run of form in the NWCDYL, where they are unbeaten in their last four games.

This new found confidence wasn't misplaced as they topped a very difficult group conceding no goals in their four league games; drawing with Bertie Peacocks and Annalong; and beating Crusaders and local derby rivals Carniny both 1-0, with Matthew Stewart and Jude Scullion on the score sheet.

This qualified the boys for a semi-final spot where they faced Carnmoney Colts, unfortunately going down to a narrow 1-0 defeat after creating some great chances late on.

Although not reaching the final, on reflection the management and squad were pleased with their overall performance throughout the day, indeed progressing further than some of their more vaunted rivals.

Panel: S Higgins, J Givens, J Kirkpatrick , M Stewart, C Forsythe, J Scullion, C Metrustry, O Connolly(c), J Coates

Institute 2 Northend United 11 Saturday 16th March 2013

Northend U11s continued there good run of form with a facile 11-2 victory against Institute on Saturday. Starting strongly the Northend boys piled on the pressure with Robert Iovu and Matthew Stewart creating a lot of chances. But due to some wasteful finishing Northend couldn't make there territorial advantage pay and the game remained scoreless after 15 minutes.

Like in many games when you don't capitalise when you are in the ascendency you often are left ruing the missed chances and so it proved as in their first meaningful attack Institute pounced on some slack Northend defending and went into a 1-0 lead after 18 minutes. This seemed to focus the minds of the Northend attackers and they quickly equalised almost from the re-start. Northend then kicked on playing some great football and finished the half with a 4-1 lead. Half time score 4-1

The boys seemed to have learned from their mistakes last week where they nearly let a 3 goal half time advantage slip, and pressed home their superiority almost scoring at will. This squad of boys has grown in belief over the past few months and testament to this is the fact that the management had the luxury of being able to make four substitutions at half time and the team were still able to press home their advantage to obtain a comprehensive victory against a team who had previously beaten them 6-1 earlier in the season!

This should give the Northend boys confidence in advance of their difficult cup game against league leaders Limavady next week.

Man of the Match: Team Performance

Panel: S Higgins, C Killough, J Kirkpatrick, J Coates, M Stewart, J Givens, C Forsythe, R Iovu, C Metrustry, O Connolly(c), J Scullion, C Meeke, L Spurgeon

Maiden City Colts 3 Northend United 4 Saturday 9th March 2013

Northend U11s returned to Ballysally to face Maiden City Colts, buoyed by a penalty shoot-out victory over the same opponents two weeks ago. The boys opened brightly with Matthew Stewart and Charlie Metrustry testing the Colt's keeper and the woodwork on a number of occasions. All the pressure was by Northend in the opening quarter and the few breakaways by the Colts were snuffed out by the excellent Conall Killough, Jay Kirkpatrick and Connor Meeke.

As the game entered the 20th minute, after good work from Charlie Metrustry and Oisin Connolly, Matthew Stewart blasted a shot which the unfortunate Colt's keeper could only punch out to the alert Leon Spurgeon, who hit the roof of the net to make it 1-0 to the Blues. Northend were now brimming with confidence. A long range Oisin Connolly free-kick gave the Colt's keeper no chance in the 25th minute and the Blues went 2-0 up. As half-time approached, Matthew Stewart made a darting run down the right flank. He fired a pin-point shot across that must be considered for goal of the season. Half-time score 3-0

The second period of the game saw a rejuvenated Maiden City Colts pen the Blues into their own half. The Blues made a few changes and an element of complacency crept into their game. The Colts were justly rewarded for their sustained pressure and scored to go 3-1 and again 3-2. The Northend Blues were now unsettled. In the past this team would have crumbled but such is their renewed belief that they hauled themselves back from the brink. Jude Scullion opened the gap again, after great play from the hard working Robert Iovu to make it 4-2 with only minutes to play. Maiden City again rallied with a late goal to make it 4-3 but the day belonged to Northend.

The boys will have learned a lot from this game. To go in at half-time three goals up, after a good performance, will mean nothing if that performance isn't matched for the entire game. Best for the Blues on the day were Jay who is improving with every game at centre-half and Matthew with his trickery on the flanks but man of the match goes to Robert for his work ethic for the entire game.

Man of the Match: Robert Iovu

Panel: S Higgins, C Meeke, J Kirkpatrick, C Killough, O Connolly (c), C Metrustry, R Iovu, M Stewart, L Spurgeon, J Givens, J Coates, C Forsythe, J Scullion