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Rosario U15s 6 Northend United U15s 1 Saturday 29th January 2011

Northend travelled to this match minus several regulars and with only the bare bones, they found themselves 2-0 after fifteen minutes. The first was a very good goal when their striker beat Dylan Little with a low drive after some good passing play.

The second goal was allowed after their striker ran through and scored when he was clearly four yards off side.

Worse was to follow when the referee awarded Rosario a penalty kick when he adjudged Dylan Little to have hauled down their striker when no actual contact happened at all. Dylan was unlucky when he pushed the penalty onto the post, only to see it trickle into the net.

There will always be days like this when all referee decisions seem to go against you.

Northend didn't give up and their midfield of Rory Kinney, Simon Cunningham, Conan Dunne and Gareth Williams continued to battle and from a Simon Cunningham pass, Gareth Williams pick up the ball and unleashed an unstoppable shot from twenty-five yards to score the goal of the game to leave the half time score 3-1 to Rosario.

Northend started off the second half in a determined fashion and Rosario found Matt Bell having an outstanding match in the heart of the Northend defence.

Northend continued to battle for fifteen minutes of the second half, with Ciaran Ferris going close on two occasions before Rosario gradually took control of the match. As Northend legs began to tire, Rosario ran in three goals to leave the final score 6-1.

Man of the Match: Matt Bell

Panel: D Little(c), D McAfee, M Bell, D Freeburn, L Kirk, G Williams, R Kinney, S Cunningham, C Dunne, C Ferris, R Kennedy

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Celtic Boys U15s 5 Northend United U15s 1 Saturday 15th January 2011

Northend got back to competitive action after a period of seven weeks without a game and with missing four regulars from their team; they didn't do themselves justice in their first match back

Northend started off against a very strong breeze and found themselves on the defensive from the start. However the defence of Mark Robinson, Matt King, Matthew Kirk and Ryan Douds were at the top of their game and slowly Northend began to claw their way back into the game. Simon Cunningham and Declan McAfee were beginning to stamp their authority in midfield but found the going tough against a very strong breeze.

Celtic started to play the long ball over the top of Northend's defence and from one of these attacks, they opened the scoring on twenty minutes when their striker raced clear and beat Dylan Little in the Northend goals.

Play continued from end to end for the remainder of the half but Celtic scored a killer blow with minutes of the first half remaining when they raced clear from an offside position and scored to make the half time score 2-0 to Celtic.

Northend started the second half with the breeze at their backs but failed to capitalise on this and allowed Celtic in to score a third goal, ten minutes into the second half.

Although Northend now took the game to Celtic, they had to wait until fifteen minutes of the match remained before Simon Cunningham raced clear of the Celtic defence and scored for Northend to give them a glimmer of hope.

As Northend pushed forward, looking for more goals they were caught out at the back when a high ball into the box wasn't dealt with and the Celtic striker scored with a header at the back post.

With the Northend heads now down, Celtic went on to score another goal just before full time to leave the final score 5-1 to Celtic Boys

Man of the Match: Matthew King

Panel: D Little(c), M Robinson, R Douds, M King, M Kirk, D Freeburn, D McAfee, S Cunningham, C Dunne, B Lynas, R Kennedy, G Williams, N Burns

Carryduff Colts U15s 4 Northend United U15s 1 Saturday 27th November 2010

Due to the poor conditions on Saturday morning, Northend travelled to Belfast with a weakened panel and were rather unlucky to come away with nothing to show from a game in which they were the better team.

Northend started the match strongly and their midfield of Declan McAfee, Simon Cunningham, Lee Kirk and Conan Dunne were pulling the strings in the match, creating half chances for the forward line of Ciaran Ferris and Ryan Kennedy.

However the Carryduff defence held firm against the Northend attacks at this stage.

Play began to flow from end to end and the defensive pairing of Matthew Kirk and Matthew King were called into action. With no scoring in the first half, both teams went in at half time with honours even.

The second half started off with both teams misplacing some passes but it was Carryduff who took the lead on six minutes when their striker received a pass in what looked like an offside position and he ran on to score.

Carryduff now had the upper hand and they scored shortly afterwards to give them a two goal cushion.

Northend came more into the game through some great play from Conan Dunne in midfield and started to create some chances on goal. Ciaran Ferris was on hand to score for United when he beat the keeper with a low shot into the corner of the net.

It was all Northend at this stage and they were unlucky not to equalise when Ryan Kennedy went close with a shot.

However Carryduff broke free from the Northend onslaught and their striker was brought down inside the Northend box for a penalty. From the resultant spot kick, Dylan Little brought off a marvellous save and pushed the ball round the post for a corner. However Northend were still sleeping when the corner was taken and the Carryduff striker scored a goal with an unchallenged header.

The Northend heads began to drop and Carryduff score a fourth goal just before the final whistle to leave the score 4-1 to Carryduff.

Northend's Coaches Johnny Sayers and Brendan McAfee can count themselves unlucky as their team played the better on the day but didn't get the rub of the green when it actually mattered.

Man of the Match: Conan Dunne

Panel: D Little(c), M Robinson, R Douds, M King, M Kirk, C Dunne, D McAfee, S Cunningham, L Kirk, C Ferris, R Kennedy

Ballynahinch U15s 0 Northend United U15s 13 Saturday 20th November 2010

Northend started off this game full of confidence from their match the previous week and raced into a four goal half time lead.

Playing some of their best football of the season, Benny Lynas opened their scoring on five minutes and Declan McAfee scored their second goal on nine minutes with a shot from outside the box.

Northend continued to dominate the game with the midfield of McAfee, Cunningham, Dunne and Williams beginning to pull all the strings.

From a corner kick, Gareth Williams was on hand to volley the ball into the net to make the score 3-0 to Northend.

Northend continued to attack Ballynahinch and just before half time Ciaran Ferris broke away from his marker, ran through the middle and slipped the ball past the keeper to leave half time score 4-0 to Northend.

Northend brought on substitutes, Ryan Kennedy, Ryan Douds and David Freeburn in the second half and continued to take the game to Ballynahinch at a frantic pace. Ciaran Ferris scored Northend's fifth immediately after half time, when he scored with a throughball from Simon Cunningham. This goal killed off the game and Benny Lynas took advantage to complete his hat-trick when he scored two goals in quick succession.

It was all Northend now and Matthew Kirk scored the next goal, direct from a corner kick to leave the score 8-0.

Ryan Kennedy and David Freeburn score another two goals in quick succession in a very one-sided second half.

Goal of the game was scored on sixty minutes when Gareth Williams volleyed home from twenty yards out to give Northend an eleven goal advantage.

Simon Cunningham was next to score , when he scored with a low drive from another corner kick and David Freeburn had the final say in the match when he scored Northend's final goal to leave the score 13-0 to Northend at the final whistle.

A special mention goes to long-term injury casualty, Rory Kinney, who travelled with the Northend team to the match on Saturday. Hopefully it won't be too long until he's back to full fitness and back in the team

Man of the Match: Brendan Lynas

Panel: D Little(c), M Robinson, L Kirk, M Kirk, M King, G Williams, D McAfee, S Cunningham, C Dunne, C Ferris, B Lynas, R Douds, R Kennedy, D Freeburn

Ards Youth U15s 1 Northend United U15s 1 Saturday 13th November 2010

Northend started the match in a more determined fashion than the previous week and dominated play from midfield with Conan Dunne, Simon Cunningham, Declan McAfee and Gareth Williams creating good chances for Ciaran Ferris and Benny Lynas.

However Northend were unable to turn their chances to goals in the first half and the half time score remained 0-0 with both defences coming out on top.

Ards had more of the play in the second half but fund Matt King and Matt Kirk at the top of their game in the Northend rear guard.

Play flowed from end to end in this half but it wasn't until ten minutes before the end of the game, when a Ards Youth free kick caught Northend out and their striker ran through to beat Dylan Little with a low drive into the corner of the net.

Such is the never say die character of this team, the heads didn't drop, instead they were camped in the Ards half for the remaining time.

With time almost up, a long clearance from Northend's keeper, Dylan Little, just outside his own penalty box, sailed over the Ards defence and keeper and into the Ards net to give Northend a share of the points.

Man of the Match: Declan McAfee

Panel: D Little(c), M Robinson, L Kirk, M King, M Kirk, D McAfee, S Cunningham, C Dunne, G Williams, B Lynas, C Ferris, R Douds, A Hughes, R Kennedy, N Burns

Ridgeway Rovers U15s 3 Northend United U15s 1 Saturday 6th November 2010

Northend started off this match missing four regulars Rory Kinney, Matthew Bell, David Freeburn and Matthew Kirk and it showed right from kick off. As early as the second minute a defensive mix up in the Northend rearguard allowed Ridgeway to take the lead.

After this unfortunate start, Northend came back at Ridgeway and the midfield of Simon Cunningham, Benny Lynas, Lee Kirk and Mark Robinson began to get the better of their counterparts and started creating chances for the strikers.

From a throughball from midfield, Ciaran Ferris raced clear of the Ridgeway defence and coolly lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper. Game on.

In a first half that flowed from end to end, Matt King was having a good game in the middle of the Northend defence and the Northend strikers Ferris and Dunne always looked dangerous when they received the ball.

With no further goals, the half time score remained 1-1.

Northend again got off to the worst possible start to the second half and conceded the second goal after a minute. This goal set Northend back and the defence of Douds, King, McAfee and Williams had to be on top of their game to prevent Ridgeway scoring another.

Gradually the Northend midfield clawed their way back into the game and began to create chances for their strikers but Northend couldn't get the all important goal to get back in the game.

Matt King was again called upon to make a few timely interceptions towards the end of the game to prevent Ridgeway increasing their lead but could do nothing to prevent Ridgeway's third goal with a long ball over the top of the Northend defence and their striker raced clear to beat Dylan Little in the Northend goals. The final score remained 3-1 to Ridgeway at the final whistle.

Man of the Match: Matt King

Panel: D Little (c), D McAfee, R Douds, M King, G Williams, B Lynas, M Robinson, S Cunningham, L Kirk, C Dunne, C Ferris, A Hughes, R Kennedy, N Burns