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Carrick Rangers 6 Northend United 0 Saturday 22nd February 2014

Northend found themselves 1-0 at half time in this game playing against a strong breeze. The Blues defence of O'Boyle, Bell, Dobbin and Hayburn were having a good game soaking up the Carrick Rangers pressure and on the break Graeme Macartney and Aaron Campbell were stretching the Carrick defence with some good wing play. Indeed Campbell might have drawn the Blues level with a low shot which went narrowly wide of the upright. Half time score 1-0

Into the second half and with the breeze at their backs, the Blues were hopeful of getting a result in this game. However Carrick were quickest out of the traps for the second half and raced to a 3-0 lead after fifteen minutes of the half, following some poor defending.

The Blues heads visibly began to drop and they conceded a fourth goal mid way through the half. With a number of substitutes on in the second half the Blues conceded two late goals to leave the final score 6-0 to Carrick Rangers

Panel: J Mark, A O'Boyle, D Bell, D Dobbin, J Hayburn, T Evans, A Shaw, G Macartney, B Millar, A Campbell, L McLean, S Hutchinson, J Wharry, E Mc Laughlin, M Kirk

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Northend United 0 Donegal Celtic 5 Saturday 8th February 2014

Missing a few regulars, Northend U15s travelled to Lisburn on Saturday to play Donegal Celtic in a Cup match. Donegal Celtic started the strongest team with Northend defending against a strong wind.

Donegal Celtic opened the scoring on ten minutes when the Northend defence failed to clear a high ball into their box and the DC striker pounced on it. It wasn't long before the score was 2-0 when again the Northend defence failed to clear the ball in the swirling wind and the DC striker poked the loose ball past Josh Mark in the Northend nets.

Northend began to settle down after this with Declan Dobbin and Tony Shaw dealing with the DC strikers. Daniel Bell was having a good game in the middle of the park for Northend, linking up well with Alex O'Boyle. Just as it was looking like ending 2-0 at half time, Northend conceded a third goal right on the stroke of half time. Half time score 3-0

Into the second half and Northend started on the front foot with Aaron Campbell and Lorcan McLean causing all sorts of problems for the DC defence. Fpr the next twenty minutes, Northend were the team on top without creating any clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

A reorganised Northend defence featuring Daniel Bell as sweeper, were dealing with anything DC could throw at them and Josh Mark looked comfortable with the DC through-balls.

However towards the end of the match, DC scored two late goals as the Northend legs began to tire, in what was some terrible conditions. Final score 5-0

Men of the Match: D Bell, J Mark

Panel: J Marks, T Evans, J Hayburn, A Shaw, D Dobbin, A O'Boyle, S Hutchinson, , D Bell, B Millar, A Campbell, E Mc Laughlin, M Kirk, L McLean, J Wharry

Lisburn Distillery 6 Northend United 0 Saturday 18th January 2014

The scoreline certainly doesn't reflect the nature of this game with the Blues not making their authority count when on top and paying up for it with a poor second half showing.

Distillery started this match strongly and went on to score the first goal after ten minutes when the Northend defence was caught napping.

Northend clawed their way back into the game and went on to dominate for the remainder of the first half but unfortunately missing a number of chances to score.

Kuba Babuszewski and Daniel Bell were pulling the strings in midfield and Sam Hutchinson and Brandon Millar were causing the Distillery defence all sorts of trouble bown the Northend wings.

Graeme Macartney should have drawn Northend level when an excellent Campbell throughball left him with only the keeper to beat but unfortunately the keeper came out on top. It wasn't long before Macartney was played through again but unfortunately saw his shot go just wide of the upright.

Northend kept pressing Distillery and they should have equalised before half time when the Distillery keeper brought off a great save from a Macartney shot. Half time score 1-0

Into the second and Distillery started like a team on fire and laid siege to the Northend defence with Anthony Shaw and Alex O'Boyle in top form. But they could do nothing after eleven minutes when the Distillery striker scored their second with a well struck shot.

Northend weren't finished yet and Graeme Macartney was unfortunate when he just steered the ball wide of the Distillery upright, following a Northend corner kick. However this proved to be the end of the Northend fightback as Distillery went on to dominate the play for the remaining twenty minutes of the match and they ran in four goals against a Blues team who offered little towards the end of the game.

Man of the Match: Josh Mark

Panel: J Mark, T Evans, J Hayburn, A Shaw, A O'Boyle, S Hutchinson, , K Babuszewski,, D Bell, B Millar, A Campbell, G Macartney, M Kirk L McLean, J Wharry

Donegal Celtic 2 Northend United 0 Saturday 11th january 2014

Northend U14s came up a good Donegal Celtic team at Lisburn on Saturday morning, having lost heavily earlier in the season to the same team. However this is a Northend team who is now playing with a lot more confidence and who have been turning in a lot of recent impressive performances.

Northend started brightly but their defence of O'Boyle, Hayburn, Dobbin and Shaw were soon under pressure from the Celtic strikers. However they dealt with the early pressure and gradually the midfield came more into the game with Jamie Stevenson and Tyler Evans creating some good passes. Aaron Campbell was unlucky when he saw a good shot go narrowly past the Celtic upright. However a mix-up in the Northend penalty box, five minutes before half time, allowed the Celtic striker to slip the ball past Josh Mark in the Northend goals. Half time score 1-0

Into the second half and Northend were slow to start and allowed Celtic to score a second goal two minutes after half time, when again a defensive lapse let their striker in to score.

Northend settled down after this goal and began to play some of their best football of the match and Jamie Stevenson saw a good shot well saved by the Celtic keeper. Graeme Macartney was causing the Celtic defence all sorts of problems with his link up play with Aaron Campbell but just couldn't score a goal to get the Blues back in the game.

At the other end, Josh Mark pulled off two good saves as Celtic went looking for another goal but the match ended with no further scoring. Final score 2-0

Man of the Match: Josh Mark

Panel: J Mark, A O'Boyle J Hayburn, A Shaw, D Dobbin, S Hutchinson, J Stevenson, T Evans, B Millar, G Macartney, A Campbell, E Mc Laughlin, M Kirk, L McLean, J Wharry, H McClurkin

Willowbank 3 Northend United 2 Saturday 4th January 2014

Northend made the long journey to play Willowbank in the Lisburn League and with a bit more luck could have earned at least share of the points.

Willowbank started the strongest team with Northend showing signs of tiredness following the Christmas break. Willowbank took the lead after four minutes when a cross into the Northend box was not properly cleared and the Willowbank striker planted the ball into the bottom corner of the net past the advancing Josh Mark.

This goal visibly gave Willowbank confidence and on eighteen minutes they scored their second goal when their winger ran down the wing and crossed the ball into the Northend penalty box where again it wasn't dealt with and the Willowbank striker prodded the ball into the net from six yards.

However Northend began to settle in to game with Jamie Stevenson and Daniel Bell stamping their authority on the game and Sam Hutchinson causing the Willowbank defence all sorts of problems with his wing play. At the back, the defence of McClurkin, O'Boyle, Dobbin and Shaw became more dominating as the game wore on but the Blues were unable to find a way past the Willowbank defence. Half time score 2-0

Into the second half and after a good half time talk a different Northend team were on show. Northend now took the game to Willowbank with Aaron Campbell and Graeme Macartney causing the Willowbank defence all sorts of problems. Northend pulled a goal back after twelve minutes of the half following a great throughball from Daniel Bell to Graeme Macartney who turned his marker and planted the ball into the bottom corner of the net. The Ballymena Blues scored their second goal minutes later when Brandon Millar beat two defenders before placing the ball into the bottom corner of the Willowbank net, leaving the score evenly tied at 2-2.

Just as it looked like Northend might go on and take all the points in this match, a poor Northend tackle allowed the Willowbank striker to get out of his half and race clear of the Blues defence, and he ran on and slipped the ball past the advancing Josh Mark to give Willowbank the lead.

However Northend came storming back in the last ten minutes of the half with most of the play in and around the Willowbank penalty box. Sam Hutchinson thought that he had drawn Northend level only for the referee to rule his goal offside with five minutes of the match remaining. Daniel Bell saw a good shot from just outside the penalty box go inches wide of the upright and two free-kicks at the end of the match might have been scored on another day. However the match ended up with Northend losing out in another very tight match. Final score 3-2

Man of the Match: Sam Hutchinson

Panel: J Marks, H McClurkin, A O'Boyle, A Shaw, D Dobbin, S Hutchinson, J Stevenson, D Bell, B Millar, A Campbell, G Macartney, K Babuszewski, J Hayburn, M Kirk, J Wharry