Northend United 1 Dungiven Celtic 2                              Saturday 21st February 2015

Northend U12s met Dungiven Celtic for the third time this season.T his was a tight affair with Dungiven creating the better chances. On form keeper E McSparron was instrumental in keeping out the Dungiven attack. But with all the chances coming from Northend's sloppy play. The defence of Ryan McQuillan, Jamie Morrow, Ronan McKillop and Harry Wylie playing well the midfield could not prevent the ball coming back at them.
Northend did work hard at the back and did manage to create some good chances but their final ball let them down. Also their passing was not at its best, from being in good positions up front they gave the ball away too often allowing Dungiven to counter attack. Dungiven took the lead midway through the first half when the Blues defence failed to clear. Half time score 0-1

Into the second half and  Northend continued to battle hard and take the game to Dungiven. On occasions they were second to the ball and this put the defence under extreme pressure. Euan McSparron pulled off some crucial and impressive saves. Then up stepped Northend's left back Ryan McQuillan who got the ball on the half way and proceeded towards the Dungiven defence. He forced his way through a couple of challenges and stroked a sublime left foot shot high into the net.
Northend created a few chances after this but it was Dungiven who looked more like scoring. And they duly did with less than 10 minutes to go. Again it was from poor tackling and urgency that Northend allowed their number 8 too much time and space and he coolly put the ball into the top corner.
Harry Wylie did strike the bar with the last kick of the game from a free kick outside the box and Dungiven managed to clear. Overall Dungiven did deserve the win but Northend need to show more alertness and urgency to win the ball and get rid of the wayward passes. Final score 1-2

Man of the Match: Ryan McQuillan

Panel: E McSparron, C Higgins, H Wylie, J Morrow, C McGaughey, J Montgomery, P Ferris, A Campbell, R McKillop, R McQuillan, P Esler
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Northend United 0 St Patricks 1                                                 Saturday 7th February 2015

Northend U12s welcomed St Patricks from Belfast in the NIBFA plate to Ballymena on Saturday. The game was played at Smithfield with the pitch being larger than what the boys normally played on.
St Patricks got off to a flyer when they took the lead from one of their players who showed blistering pace to get away from Calum Kilgore and coolly slot the ball past Callum Higgins who was standing in for regular keeper Euan McSparron.
Both teams battled hard with nobody creating any clear cut chances. Any chances that St Patricks had were down to errors Northend made. This again was Northend's down fall, poor first touch and decision making prevented them from taking control of the game. Half time score 0-1

Northend  came out in the second half full of purpose, they controlled this half with Patrick Ferris  finding form taking on the midfield and attacking St Pats who found it hard to stop him. Harry Wylie also came into the game and controlled the midfield. Northend had a number of half chances from free kicks. Harry Wylie delivered quality balls that on another day would have fell more kindly to the strikers.
With the pitch being much longer than what both sides were used to the game was majority played in the midfield, both keepers had very little to do.
With only ten minutes of the game left, Northend did their usual and started to dominate. Patrick Ferris took on the opponents and only a final ball prevented Northend getting an equaliser. Conor McGaughey worked hard holding a high line on such a big pitch and he was replaced with Jamie Morrow coming on for a second time. This almost proved to be an inspired substitution as he found himself just inside the box and as the ball broke to him he shot using the outside of his right foot but the ball struck the post and St Pats cleared.
On another day Northend would have scored at least 2 but it was a well contested game and only the one shot St Pats had counted. Final score 0-1

Man of the Match: Team Performance

Panel: C Higgins, H Wylie (c), J Morrow, C McGaughey, J Montgomery, P Ferris,  C Kilgore, R McKillop, R McQuillan, P Esler
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NORTHEND UNITED YOUTH FC
Ballymena, N. Ireland
Est 2003