Northend United 4 Roe Valley Colts 3 Saturday 1st March 2014
This was a game of two halves with Northend the far better team in the first half and Roe Valley in the second half. The game started well for Northend and they should have been out of sight well before half time with the amount of chances that they had. Ben O'Neill put Northend infront when another Blues attack forced the Roe Valley keeper to make another great save but O'Neill followed up to blast home from close range to put United 1-0. Northend should really have added a lot more goals with the amount of chances that they had but it was a day when poor finishing and a keeper who was in outstanding form on the day. As the game went on Northend added two more goals with Jay McKeown and Pearse McAuley finishing off chances after great work from Zack Erwin and Ben O'Neill to give Northend a good lead going into the second half. Half time score 3-0
Northend made a few changes at half time and in took a while for everyone to settle in. Roe Valley took advantage of these changes and they staged a fightback to pull the score back to 3-3 with some good finishing from their strikers. The game moved from end to end now and the defence of both teams had to be alert, but Northend settled the game late on with O'Neill torturing the Roe Valley defender all day with his jinxing runs down the left wing and it was from one of these runs that he was able to cross for Jay McKeown to knock into the net for his second and Northend's fourth. The Northend U9 players never gave up and kept going until the final whistle, with Stevie Bristow the captain on the day leading the boys well. This was back to back wins for the boys and they are growing in confidences with every game. Full time score 4-3
Men of the Match: Ben O'Neill, Pearce McAuley
Panel: C Wilson, L Turner, B O'Neill, S Bristow (c), B O'Neill, P McAuley, J McKeown, Z Erwin, J Mark, C McGarry, I Wylie
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Carniny Amateurs 0 Northend United 3 Saturday 22nd February 2014
This was a very entertaining match from the two Ballymena based teams who met on Saturday at Ballysally. The game started at a fast pace with both teams seeing plenty of the ball as they went on the attack. The two man defence of Lee Turner and Stevie Bristow were in a mean mood and were able to deal with the attacks from the Carniny midfield and front players and start the counter attacks from the back with Ben O'Neill and Charlie McGarry making great runs down the wings. With Jay McKeown in the centre of midfield breaking up play and was always a threat with his powerful runs and Zack Erwin upfront Northend always looked like they could score goals. As the game flowed from end to end, it was Northend who broke the deadlock when as the ball was cleared by a Carniny defender, Jay McKeown hit a shot from distance and watched it fly into the top corner past the Carniny keeper. The same player did the exact same with his second goal when he won the ball and hit it from distance again to put Northend 2-0 at half time. Half time score 2-0
The second half started the same as the first with both teams playing great football and were a real credit to their clubs as they passed the ball around well, but the defence of Turner and Bristow left Curtis Wilson in the Northend goal with very little to do as they were able to win the ball and move forward and set up more attacks. With Isaac Wylie now on, he was able to cause more problems for the Carniny defence with his tricky runs. Northend went further infront when Jay McKeown got his hat-trick when a strong shot from the Northend captain flew into the net. This was a real cracker of a game from two very good teams. Final score 3-0
Men of the Match: Lee Turner, Stevie Bristow
Panel: C Wilson, L Turner, B O'Neill, S Bristow, J McKeown (c), C McGarry, Z Irwin, I Wylie
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