Northend United Youth FC

Northend United U14's 0 Ridgeway Rovers U14's 2

Saturday 24th October 2009

Northend United Youth took on Ridgeway Rovers on Saturday in a South Belfast League match. Having already beaten this side in pre-season, there was an air of complacency about this Northend team, going into this match.

Northend never really started and found themselves under pressure right from the kick-off. Ridgeway Rovers took the lead on eight minutes when their striker scored from the edge of the penalty area.

Northend lifted their game after this and took the game to Ridgeway. However, with attack after attack, they were unable to find their way past a will drilled Ridgeway defence. As play swung from end to end, Trevor Holmes pulled off a great save to keep Northend in the game. The half time score remained 1-0 to Ridgeway Rovers.

Northend came out for the second half and found themselves defending almost immediately. Trevor Holmes pulled off another fine save when it looked like Ridgeway would score.

After twelve minutes of the second half, Northend lost the influential Rory Kinney to injury. Almost immediately, Ridgeway went on the attack and increased their lead with another well executed goal.

Northend brought on substitutes, Ryan Douds, Emmett Kerr and Brendan Lynas to try and change the course of the game. However, Ridgeway kept attacking and Trevor Holmes was called upon to make another fine save.

Northend were unable to reduce the score before the final whistle, leaving the score 2-0 in Ridgeway's favour.

Man of the Match - Trevor Holmes

Panel: Trevor Holmes, Rory Kinney(c), Mark Robinson, Thomas Brady, Matthew King, Declan McAfee, Sean McCann, Conan Dunne, Aidan Hughes, Ryan McIllroy, Ciaran Ferris, Ryan Douds, Emmett Kerr, Brendan Lynas

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Red Star U14's 0 Northend United U14's 2

Saturday 17th October 2009

Played in bright sunshine, Northend United Youth took on Red Star at the Blanchflower Stadium pitches on Saturday in a South Belfast League match.

Northend started in a determined mood and dominated the match from the start. Ryan McIllroy and Sean McCann were involved in some slick passing moves opening up the Red Star defence. Ciaran Ferris went close with a shot before Sean McCann opened the scoring ten minutes into the first half.

Receiving the ball on the edge of the penalty box, he drilled the ball low into the net giving the goal keeper no chance to make the score 1-0.

Northend continued to dominate play. Ciaran Ferris should have increased their lead when he shot timidly past the post when well placed. Towards the end of the first half, Red Star took the match to Northend but found Trevor Holmes in the Northend goal and Rory Kinney in the Northend defence in inspirational form.

The half time score remained 1-0

Northend began the second half in the same fashion as they finished the first. They continued to attack Red Star. However their second goal seemed to elude them.

Matthew King, Declan McAfee and Ciaran Ferris all should have done better with goal scoring chances.

Red Star continued to hit Northend on the counter attack but found Captain Rory Kinney, who was leading by example, impenetrable in the Northend defence.

Goal of the game was scored midway through the second half by Sean McCann when he received the ball on the half way line, ran down the right wing, leaving three defenders in his trail and unleashed an unstoppable shot past the hgoalkeeper from a tight angle.

Northend introduced substitutes Conan Dunne, Aidan Hughes, Brendan Lynas and Aidan McCurry for King, Douds, Ferris and McAfee. Northend weren't finished yet and Kinney was unlucky when a shot went narrowly past the Red Star post with their keeper well beaten.

This was another excellent game of attacking football from this Northend Team in their first year in the South Belfast League.

Man of the Match - Sean McCann

Panel: Trevor Holmes, Rory Kinney(c), Mark Robinson, Ryan Douds, Thomas Brady, Declan McAfee, Emmett Kerr, Matt King, Ryan McIllroy, Ciaran Ferris, Sean McCann, Conan Dunne, Brendan Lynas, Aidan Hughes, Aidan McCurry

Northend United U14's 6 Springfield Star U14's 5

Saturday 10th October 2009

Northend United Youth took on Springfield Star at the Woodvale playing fields on Saturday in a South Belfast League match.

Northend started at blistering speed and dominated the match from the start. Ryan McIllroy opened the scoring for Northend in the twelfth minute with a well executed goal.

Northend further increased their lead on eighteen minutes, when Emmet Kerr scored his first of the season to put Northend 2-0 ahead.

Ryan McIllroy was causing all sorts of problems for the Springfield defence and was unlucky when he struck the post twice with powerful shots.

However Northend took their foot of the pedal and allowed Springfield into the game when they conceded a goal in the twentieth minute.

McIllroy was on hand to put Northend further ahead when he scored on twenty-eight minutes. Some sloppy defending was to allow Springfield Star back into the game right on the stroke of half time, when their striker scored to leave the half time score 3-2 in Northend's favour.

Northend came out after the break and went to sleep for the first fifteen minutes. In an excellent display of passing football, Springfield Star scored three goals in quick succession to leave the score 5-3 in their favour.

The score remained the same until six minutes before the end of the game when Captain Rory Kinney was on had to score for Northend.

In a frantic final few minutes Conan Dunne was next to score for Northend to level the score at 5-5 with four minutes of the match remaining.

Northend weren't finished and Ryan McIllroy popped up to score the winner for Northend in the last minute of the match to leave the final score 6-5 in Northend's favour.

This was a pulsating game where Northend showed their true qualities in front of goal but must work harder on their defending.

Panel: Trevor Holmes, Rory Kinney(c), Mark Robinson, Ryan Douds, Thomas Brady, Declan McAfee, Emmett Kerr, Simon Cunningham, Ryan McIllroy, Ciaran Ferris, Sean McCann, Conan Dunne, Brendan Lynas, Aidan Hughes, Matthew King

Northend United U14's 5 Grosvenor Youth 2

Saturday 3rd October 2009

Northend United Youth took on Grosvenor Youth at the windswept Boucher Road playing fields on Saturday.

Northend kicked off defending into the wind and the defence of Rory Kinney, Ryan Douds and Mark Robinson were resolute in their tackling and Sean McCann in the Northend goal dealt with any shots that came his way.

It was no surprise when Ciaran Ferris opened the scoring on twelve minutes for Northend. In a match that was being dominated by Northend at this stage, Ryan McIllroy scored his first goal of the game on fifteen minutes to give Northend a 2-0 lead.

However Grosvenor Youth came back at Northend and a mix up in the Northend defence between Rory Kinney and Ryan Douds let in the Grosvenor striker to score to make the score 2-1.

Instead of dropping their heads, this goal spurned Northend on and Ryan McIllroy scored his second of the game and Northend's third, on twenty-three minutes.

Goal of the game was scored by Brendan Lynas, when just before half time, he passed the ball wide to Ryan McIllroy and raced through the middle of the park, to collect the return cross from McIllroy and place the ball wide of the keeper and into the net to make the half-time score 4-1 in Northend's favour.

Northend started the second half with the wind at their backs but it was Grosvenor who scored on four minutes to reduce the score to 4-2 in Northend's favour.

The remainder of this half saw Northend play some excellent football and Ryan McIllroy completed his hat-trick when he beat the keeper with five minutes of the match remaining.

This was an excellent result from Northend United Youth and one that builds confidence in this team for the future.

Man of the Match - Ryan McIllroy and Rory Kinney

Panel: Sean McCann, Rory Kinney(c), Mark Robinson, Ryan Douds, Brendan Lynas, Thomas Brady, Declan McAfee, Conan Dunne, Ryan McIllroy, Aidan Hughes, Ciaran Ferris, Aidan McCurry, Emmet Kerr, Simon Cunningham, Matthew King, Conor O'Hagan

Glentoran U14's 0 Northend United U14's 6

Saturday 26th September 2009

Northend went into this game on the back of two defeats but the message to the players before the game was keep doing what they were doing and the results would come. United in their opening two games have played good football and have been unlucky not to get anything from them.

It didn't take long for Northend to get on top in this match and opened the scoring when Aidan Hughes closed down the Glentoran keeper's attempted clearance which rebounded of him and into the net.

United played this game with real confidence and took further advantage when some nice two touch football from their defence found Emmett Kerr in the middle of the park. His silky run and pass found Ryan McIllroy whose cross was turned in by Ciaran Ferris at the back post.

The Ballymena based side took on a new look defence, with Captain Rory Kinney playing in a sweeping role and what a great job he done giving Glentoran no time on the ball. When they got past the United back line they found an inspired Sean McCann in goals, who pulled off two brilliant saves to deny Glentoran two goal scoring opportunities.

Northend never let up and netted two more quick goals before the half with two brilliant finishes from Ciaran Ferris and Ryan McIllroy.

Northend struggled to take full advantage of their superiority over Glentoran and allowed Glentoran to come more and more into the game. However Northend stood firm in all areas of the pitch and this was a game that their defence started from the front three.

United made a few changes into the second half and this had an instant impact on the game when Ryan McIllroy linked up with Conan Dunne, who then turned his marker before picking his spot and hammering one into the top corner of the goal.

Ryan McIllroy finished of the rout when he got in front of the keeper, to slide home a goal from close range.

This was a game that United looked more hungry than ever and it show in this great performance.

Man of the Match - Ciaran Ferris

Panel: Sean McCann, Rory Kinney, Mark Robinson, Ryan Douds, Emmet Kerr, Thomas Brady, Declan McAfee, Simon Cunningham, Ryan McIllroy, Aidan Hughes, Ciaran Ferris, Aidan McCurry, Conan Dunne.

Northend United U14's 2 Dungoyne U14's 4

Saturday 19th September 2009

For this match against Dungoyne, Northend welcomed back from injury, the hard working Sean McCann but were still missing key players like Kinney, Brady and Robinson. Northend United went into this game with a point to prove and they matched Dungoyne for most of the game, however key errors late in the game cost them dearly.

Both teams came out and looked very nervous with passing going astray. Dungoyne then settled after ten minutes and played some super one touch football but they were finding the United Rearguard hard to break down. On the thirteenth minute Dungoyne opened the scoring when a silly free kick was conceded. They scored from the resulting free kick when goalkeeper Trevor Holmes could only parry the ball onto the crossbar and the Dungoyne forward followed in and with ease slotted home as no Northend defender tracked his run into the box.

This seemed to be a wake up call for United and they began to play more fluently and look more and more confident. Ryan McIllroy began to cause Dungoyne problems with his jinxing runs.

Northend United equalised on twenty five minutes when they played some super football from the midfield area as Sean McCann, Declan McAfee and Ciaran Ferris were all involved in slick inter play before a blocked shot rebounded to Simon Cunningham, whose scissor kick met the top corner of the goal to level the scores going into half time.

United came out in the second half and took control of the game with some crisp passing and created two brilliant chances, the best of which was when Ciaran Ferris fed the ball into Ryan McIllroy, who turned the last defender and should of netted but his tame effort was straight at the keeper.

On a counter attack, Dungoyne took the lead when keeper Simon Holmes came sliding out for the ball and the forward side stepped him to slot home into an empty net.

Northend took just two minutes to level again when Simon Cunningham took his tally to two for the season. Conan Dunne won the ball on the half way line and slick passing between Ryan McIllroy and Ciaran Ferris, lead to a cross field pass to Cunningham who fired a curling shot past the despairing keeper.

Errors in defence cost Northend the last two goals, the second of which was right on the stroke of full time but the hunger and determination that was lacking the previous week was now back in Northend's game.

Dungoyne will be a team challenging for the U14 league title this season and this result has seen the Northend Management Team grow in confidence seeing their team compete with the best in the league.

Panel: Trevor Holmes, Emmet Kerr, Ryan Douds, Matt King, Brendan Lynas, Conan Dunne, Sean McCann, Declan McAfee, Ciaran Ferris, Ryan McIlroy, Simon Cunningham, Aidan Hughes, Aidan McCurry

Crusaders U14's 4 Northend United U14's 3

Saturday 12th September 2009

This was a game in that Northend under performed, but still should off taken all three points and would of done so, if not for individual mistakes.

United adapted a new look formation in this game but it failed to make an impact on Crusaders. The Ballymena based side took the lead on 4 minutes when Ryan McIlroy opened the scoring. Some brilliant football down United's right side ended with Declan McAfee crossing into a crowed penalty box where Conan Dunne received and pushed wide to McIlroy who shot low and hard past the stranded keeper.

Things then went sour for United who lost their formation and found themselves on level terms 2 minutes later when Emmet Kerr knocked past his own goalkeeper when he should have cleared his line. If that wasn't bad enough a minute later another mistake in Northend's defence caused a second goal, when again they failed to clear the ball, and the young Crusaders striker was quick to delivery a hammer blow to make it 2-1.

Northend then started the second half with the usual formation that won them the treble last season. With the addition of Ciaran Ferris and a bit of determination, United got back on level terms.

The move started with brilliant football out from the back to the right wing to find the feet of Declan McAfee who in turn fed in Simon Cunningham to beat two defenders before laying into the path of Ryan McIlroy to beat the keeper at his near post.

United grew in confidence and tried to play football but silly mistakes made it easy for the Crusaders midfield to get on the ball. United conceded a third goal when the defence conceded a throw deep in their own half. From the resulting throw, United failed to close down the Crusaders striker and he had time to pick his spot and fire into the top corner of the Northend goal, giving Trevor Holmes no chance.

If this wasn't bad enough, United conceded another when Crusaders won a corner. From the resultant corner, the United defender failed to head clear at the near post and conceded another past his own keeper when the ball struck him and rebounded into the net.

United then looked more determined, and with this put the Crusaders defence under pressure. When Ryan McIlroy received the ball on the left wing, he cut across and down the bye line to slot across the six yard box for Ciaran Ferris to tap home.

The last three minutes of the game saw Northend dominate play and hit the Crusaders post from a Rory Kinney shot and a goal mouth scramble resulted in the ball just creeping wide.

United will have to show fight and a lot more hunger for the ball if they want to make an impact in their next game against Dungoyne next Saturday.

Panel: Trevor Holmes, Emmet Kerr, Ryan Douds, Mark Robinson, Matt King, Thomas Brady, Rory Kinney (c), Declan McAfee, Simon Cunningham, Ryan McIlroy, Conan Dunne, Brendan Lynas, Aidan Hughes, Aidan McCurry, Ciaran Ferris