Maiden City battle to win at Eglinton

Under 13 National League Game 3

MAIDEN City were made to come from behind to secure victory against a battling Larne team at Eglinton Airfields on Sunday afternoon.

The home team were dealt and early blow when goalkeeper Shay Cross was injured in the warm up.

City were again sluggish at the beginning of the game and were made to pay when they gave the ball away in the middle of the pitch and Larne were allowed to break quickly and once the striker got behind Brett McGinty with a nice give and go he made no mistake as he fired the ball across Gareth Muldoon and into the corner of the net.

It was probably Larne who looked to more likely to add to the score line early on although City were having bits of possession their final passes were not accurate enough. Larne hustled and fought hard all over the pitch and caused City’s back four trouble in the first twenty minutes but spurned two or three good chances to extend their advantage.

Thomas Cole was introduced into the game after twenty minutes and instantly created a goal scoring opportunity for Adam Dougherty but he shot over from the edge of the box. Oran Higgins then missed a good chance to square the game when Dougherty found a yard to cross but Higgins couldn’t find the contact to turn the ball over the line.

Minutes later City were level and Cole was involved again as Kyle Gormley found him in the middle of the park and he then slipped the ball inside the full back for Dougherty who carried the ball to the by-line before cutting it back leaving Chris McLaughlin to tap home from a few yards.

The second half started with City now finding their rhythm and starting to pass the ball a little quicker and allot more accurately although probably the biggest difference was their work rate and the way they closed the ball down all over the pitch. Brett McGinty and Connor McGee at the heart of the City defence had now gotten to grips with the Larne strikers and McGinty stopped most attacks before they could really start and when he missed McGee swept everything and then started the next City attack up.

City now had good control of the game and pushed their full backs forward creating more pressure for the now stretched Larne defence, Dylan McCorkell in particular from left back was getting into good areas and linking well with firstly McLaughlin and then Monteith.

When Maiden City did take the lead it was no shock that it came from the left, McCorkell, McLaughlin and Cole were all involved in a spell of passes that lead to Cole being fouled out on the left touchline. McCorkell delivered a terrific cross at pace which Chris McLaughlin glanced into the bottom right corner of the net.

With Thomas Cole, Declan Sharkey and now Reece Adair in control of the midfield City were able to get forward at will but had to be careful as Larne had pace on the break. The decisive goal came after City had one ruled out due to an injury to a Larne player. When it came though it was good enough to win any game.

Thomas Cole came onto the ball and took two strides before absolutely hammering it into the top corner leaving the Larne keeper helpless. Larne did create two or three good chances to get back into the game late on but good goalkeeping from Muldoon and some excellent tackles from Connor McGee kept them at bay.

Maiden City will be pleased with their overall performance especially in the second half, but they know they will have to be at their very best next week when they take on reigning league champions Linfield at Belfast.

Maiden City Academy Man of the Match – Thomas Cole

Maiden City Academy; Muldoon, Marshall, McGinty, McGee (c), McCorkell, Higgins, McKeever, Sharkey, McLaughlin, Dougherty, Walker. Subs (all used) Adair, Montieth, Crumley, Gormley and Cole.