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Northend United 3 Castlewellan Town 2 Saturday 11th December 2021

Final Saturday before the Christmas break paired the Northend U14s with Castlewellan Town in a cold and windy morning at Barbour Lisburn. The boys wanted to get over the cup defeat a few weeks ago against the same opponents and started brightly. Some smart play in the midfield allowed Ryan McClintock to play a defence-splitting ball through to Nikodem Byczek in the first minute but unfortunately the strikers hamstring went leaving no subs for the remainder of the game. The boys were on top and not allowing Castlewellan anytime on the ball and this pressure paid off after great work by Ryan McClintock, Sam Rogalski and Jack Patterson in the midfield played Ross Bamber through who was able to finish smartly past the Castlewellan keeper. Half time 1-0

Second half started as the first finished with the boys on top and this pressure finally paid off with a corner from Rogalski causing havoc as the ball was put into his own net by the Castlewellan keeper. A third quickly followed after great work by Rogalski on the line, he was able to pass the ball back to Aodhán McGarry to coolly finish by the keeper.

To their credit Castlewellan never stopped and the boys were starting to drain with no subs available to change things. Castlewellan got a lifeline with 10 minutes remaining when a shot was dropped by Andrejz into his net and this was followed by a Castlewellan penalty leaving a nervous last 5 minutes. The boys were able to hold on and bag the 3 points. Full time 3-2

Panel: A Smolinski, R O’Boyle, D Hector, C McCudden, A McGarry, R McClintock, B Pluta, W Wronski, J Patterson, N Byczek, S Rogalski and R Bamber

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Northend United 2 Strangford town 3 Saturday 4th December

Saturday paired the 2008s v Strangford in a cold and windy morning at Barbour Lisburn. The boys wanted to get over the cup defeat a few weeks ago and started brightly. Some smart play in the midfield allowed Ryan McClintock to play a defence-splitting ball through to Nikodem Byczek who smartly finished. The boys were on top and not allowing Strangford anytime on the ball and this pressure paid off after great work by Ryan McClintock he was able to finish smartly past the Strangford keeper.

To their credit Strangford never stopped and after a defensive mix up were able to pull one back after the striker lobbed Andrejz Smolinski in nets. This seemed to unsettle the boys who stopped playing and a speculative wind assistant shot from distance caught out Smolinski to make it 2-2 at the break. Half time 2-2

The second half was a close affair, but the equaliser seemed to spur Strangford on more and after numerous chances they got the winner. Full time 2-3

Panel: A Smolinski, L Laverty, R O’Boyle, D Hector, S Butler, C McCudden, K McGillian, B Pluta, T Duffin, W Wronski, J Patterson, N Byczek, S Rogalski, R Bamber

Northend United 0 Castlewellan Town 1 Saturday 20th November 2021

Saturday paired the U14s with Castlewellan in the Quarter final of the Cup at Ballymacross. In a tight first half the only opportunity game from a penalty. Quick reaction from Barti Pluta to lob the keeper, resulted in a Castlewellan defender handling on the line and being sent off. Pluta stepped up to take the penalty but a save by the keeper kept the score even. Half time 0-0

The second half was all about the defences, as they worked tireless to stop the few chances both teams had. No score at full time meant extra time and it was inevitable an individual error would win the game. Good work by the Castlewellan striker resulted in a trip and penalty which they converted with two minutes to go.

Despite the loss this was a fantastic performance by the defence and looks promising for the campaign ahead. Extra time 0-1

Panel: A Smolinski, L Laverty, R O’Boyle, D Hector, S Butler, C McCudden, K McGillian, B Pluta, T Duffin, W Wronski, J Patterson, N Byczek, R Bamber

Northend United 4 Lisdrum Youth 6 Saturday 13th November 2021

An illness stricken U14 squad travelled to Wallace Park on Saturday for a match against Lisdrum Youth in the Premier Division of the Lisburn Youth League. The match was an end to end affair with both sets of strikers on top of their game. Losing eventually by a 6-4 scoreline, goals were scored by Ross Bamber, Nikodem Byqek, Ryan McClintock and Kevin McGillian. Special mention to Ross on scoring his first goal for the Club. Full time 4-6

Panel: A Smolinski, R O’Boyle, W Wronski, S Butler, T Duffin, S Rogalski, R McClintock, C McCudden, K McGillian, B Pluta, N Byczek, R Bamber

Northend United 2 Hillsborough Boys 3 Saturday 6th November 2021

Saturday seen an early ko at Wallace in Lisburn v Hillsborough Boys in the start of the 2008 First Division. Having previously played Hillsborough in their last game before the league cut off, the boys knew they were in for a game. From the first whistle the boys put Hillsborough defence under serious pressure and found themselves 2 up after 20mins with 2 goals from Shea Butler. His first was after great work on the right and the cross was delivered to the back post for a tap in and the second after a shot from Sam Rogalski, the ball came of the post and Shea was quickest to react to the rebound. Shea Butler had a chance to complete his hat-trick but this effort surprisingly went over the bar to the relief of the Hillsborough defence. The midfield four of Shea Butler, Jack Patterson, Sam Rogalski and Aodhán McGarry were getting time to play the fast flowing football of previous weeks allowing the strikers Barti Pluta and Tom Duffin chances. The back four was being well marshalled by Ryan O’Boyle, Wiktor Wronski, Luca Laverty and Danny Hector who were both kept alert by Captain Andresz Smolinski in nets. An individual error just before the half time whistle, however allowed Hillsborough an opportunity from which they scored to give them hope in the second half. Half time 2-1

Changes at half time seemed to change the game and allow Hillsborough opportunities which they converted to quickly take the lead. This didn’t stop the boys continuing to play their football. Charlie McCudden was getting opportunities now on the left and was working well with the new strikers of Kevin McGillian and Ross Bamber. With the last kick of the game after Barti Pluta was fouled just on the edge of the box, Tom Duffin had an opportunity to salvage a draw with a free kick, but an unbelievable save by the Hillsborough keeper denied the draw that the boys and the game deserved.

Despite the loss this was a fantastic performance and looks promising for the league ahead against a team that hasn’t been defeated. Full time 2-3

Panel: A Smolinski, L Laverty, R O’Boyle, D Hector, S Butler, C McCudden, K McGillian, B Pluta, A McGarry, T Duffin, W Wronski, J Patterson, R Bamber and S Rogalski