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Bangor 5 Northend United 1 Saturday 25th January 2014

The U15s travelled to Bangor on a very wet blustery morning. Indeed the weather was so bad the match had to be switched to the 3G surface at the last minute. The Blues went into this League Cup match with no fewer than six players missing due to injuries and sickness so knew this was going to be a very tough match against an Academy team, who are a match for anyone on their day.

The match got underway and it was Bangor who started the stronger pushing the boys back and it wasn't long before they took the lead as the ball was crossed it slipped through the keepers reach and landed nicely for the striker to prod it home. Northend went straight on the attack from this and as Dylan McKelvey went to pass the ball on the edge of the box a defender jumped in with two feet luckily enough missing the player but did not touch the ball either, but the ref deemed this to be a fair tackle, much to the annoyance of the Blues line. The ball was cleared up the wing by Bangor and as a player crossed the ball low a Blues defender and keeper collided with each other and the ball tamely rolled into the net, leaving the score 2-0.

Northend once again went on the attack and as Andrew Milligan rolled the ball to Bradley Cairns he hit an unstoppable 30 yard screamer which flew into the top corner 2-1 game on.

Northend now looking for an equalizer were pushing forward and as Zack Herbison chased the ball into the box he was hauled back but the ref played on. A few minutes later Northend won a corner and as the ball was played into the box once again the same player was pulled down but once again the referee played on. Half time score 2-1

The second half got underway and as Herbison spun off his marker, once again he was tugged back and once again the referee deemed this fair play. Two players were booked for remonstrating and you could see the heads going down as Bangor broke to score their third. A few minutes later as Oliver Boyle cleared a ball in his own box a Bangor player tripped over Boyles trailing leg and the referee from the halfway line blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. The penalty was scored for Bangor's fourth goal. There was more controversy for their fifth as from an offside position the player scored. The referee blew and pointed for an offside but then changed his mind for the goal to stand.

Not taking anything away from Bangor who on the day were the better team but for some non communication and definitely bad refereeing decisions this scoreline would have been different. Even the Bangor officials had stated the referee got a lot of decisions wrong but as we all know the referees always right.

Well done to the both teams who played in these terrible weather conditions. Full time score 5-1

Man of the Match: Team Performance

Panel: A O'Neill, L McFall, A Milligan, R Dennison, O Boyle, B Cairns(c), J Savage, J Anderson, M Waide, S Bennett, D McKelvey, Z Herbison

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Northend United 3 Glenavon 4 Saturday 11th January 2013

The U15s welcomed Irish League Academy team Glenavon to the Smithfield pitch for their first match of 2014. The Ballymena boys started the match off well and it wasn't long before they took the lead, with new signing Jordan Savage beating a player before putting Johnston Kirkpatrick through and he raced past a defender before steadying

himself and firing low past the keeper,

Glenavon started coming more into the game and after twenty minutes they equalized. Their left winger was tackled just inside the box with what looked like a great tackle as the ball changed direction but the referee pointed to the spot. New keeper O'Neill was unlucky as he just got a hand to the ball but the shot was too powerful. Just after this Northend thought they had a penalty when Herbison was brought down by the Glenavon keeper but the referee pointed for an offside instead,. On thirty minutes Glenavon took the lead when the big forward cut through and lobbed the ball into the net. Half time score 1-2

The second half got underway and within a couple of minutes Glenavon increased their lead when the big midfielder's shot took a deflection and sent O'Neill the wrong way. Worst was to come as Glenavon scored their fourth goal as a midfielder rode at least four lacklustre tackles before squaring for his team mate to shoot low past the

keeper. A few changes were made with some players changing positions and this seemed to help. Robbie Dennison's lob from his own half seemed to cross the line before the keeper saved but the referee deemed it hadn't, Bradley Cairns played Zack Herbison through and when he was brought down in the box by the keeper the referee had no hesitation but to point to the spot, Herbison stepped up and dispatched the ball into the corner for Northend's second goal. With five minutes remaining, Northend scored again, when good work from Sam Bennett, Cairns, Kirkpatrick and Savage and the ball was played into the box it was only half cleared to Herbison who's curled shot from 16yards flew into the corner of the net. However the Blues kept upthe pressure but there just wasn't enough time for the boys to equalize...

If the boys can work on the way they fought back at the end of this game things can only get better for them.Full time score 3-4

Men of the Match: Bradley Cairns, Jordan Savage

Panel: A O'Neill, L McFall, J Anderson, O Boyle, R Dennison, B Cairns(c), S Bennett, L McCann, J Kirkpatrick, Z Herbison, J Savage, C McLaughlin, M Waide, Dylan McKelvey