Ballymoney Youth Academy news

U14s Ballymoney Youth 2 V 2 Valley Rangers Kilkeel (AET) Ballymoney win 3 v 1 on penalties

The U14s entertained Valley Rangers in the N.I Boys Cup on Saturday. The boys dominated the first half but the Valley Rangers’ net remained intact.

Five minutes into the second half and against the run of play a long range clearance from the half way line gave the Kilkeel boys a 1-0 lead.

Ballymoney continued to play attractive football and in the 50th minute a brilliant volley from the industrious Owen McFerran brought the sides level.

In the 60th minute captain Sam Shaw gave the the toon the lead, but the Kilkeel boys equalised again in the 65th minute to give a full time score of Ballymoney 2 Kilkeel 2.

Extra time could not produce a winner, so it went down to a penalty shoot out.

Ballymoney were up 1st and forward C McFerron slotted the ball in the corner, Kilkeel up next and Ballymoney keeper Charlie McCaughey produced a great save to give Ballymoney the advantage.

Ballymoney dispatched the next two penalties to lead 3-1.

Ballymoney’s fourth penalty sadly went wide, but McCaughey as so many times before came to the rescue and saved Kilkeel’s fourth penalty. A win for Ballymoney and the next round of the cup.

A big thank you to all the parents who came to support the boys and special thanks to who provided refreshments afterwards. C McCaughey 8, P McFarland 8, S O’Neill 8 P Linton 9 J Gillian 8, P Wildsmith 8, Sam Shaw 8, C Hamilton 8, O McFerran 8 C Molloy 8, C McFerran 8, Subs used J Kirkpatrick 8, C Pattison 8, S Peragh 8, S Linton 8. Andrew McDougall 8

Training Monday and Thursday as usual at the JDLC.

U12s Ballymoney 2 vs 0 Ards Youth

Three points in the bag would have been the aim for Ballymoney this week.

Ballymoney controlled from the start with Fergal Dillon sending a low pass between the two Ards defenders, George Connolly finished well. That’s his first of hopefully many this season.

1-0 Ballymoney with 10 minutes gone. Ards didn’t really respond at all to the goal so Ballymoney just kept attacking and attacking eventually this pressure paid off. A long throw from Fergal Dillon set George Connolly running down the wing and he crossed well to Adam Patrick who slotted it home. 2-0 Ballymoney with 20 minutes gone. John Joe O’Neill passed it low to Conor Gillen who found Adam Patrick, who just shot wide.

Half time 2-0 Ballymoney.

Ards Youth had tackles flying in everywhere this half and mind you, not good ones. Adam Alexander, Frances Cochrane, Aaron MacAuley and John Joe O’Neill had very little to do this half. Sam Mc Cooke had a few shots just wide. Paul Lyttle had two penalty shouts turned down. Then Conor Gillen came in with a great sliding tackle. This didn’t go down well with the Ards captain who had already been warned. He got up and kicked Conor on the leg. The Ards Captain was then sent off. Another great victory for Ballymoney. Final score Ballymoney 2-0 Ards Youth.

U11s Ballymoney Y. A. 2 – 3 Maiden City

THIS was a good battling performance from Ballymoney against a strong and skilful Maiden City team.

Play was fairly even for the first ten minutes but Maiden City then began to dominate possession and Ballymoney had to work very hard to keep the game scoreless. Maiden City had a number of attempts on goal but Lyndon McCook made a couple of good saves to keep them out. It looked like Ballymoney would keep it scoreless until half time but just before the break Maiden City made it 1-0 from close range.

The second half was a more even contest with Ballymoney having more of the ball and they created a number of goal scoring opportunities. On 40 minutes Ballymoney got the equaliSer when Mark McConaghie scored with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. This gave Ballymoney a lift and for the next ten minutes it looked like they could win the game, putting pressure on the Maiden City defence.

Maiden City weathered the storm and broke away to score, making it 2-1. They followed this with another goal soon after to make it 3-1 and the game looked to be over. However Ballymoney never gave up and pulled a goal back through Andrew Dunlop with two minutes left but this was the last goal of the game leaving the final score 3-2 to Maiden City.

Manager Gary Lyttle thanked the players for the effort and attitude they showed against the strong Maiden City team.

Team: Lyndon McCook, Christopher Moore, Craig Cunningham, Adam Jamison, Ryan McCook, Conleth O’Neill, Mark McConaghie, Danny Laverty, Rhys Ferris, Andrew Dunlop, Odhran Doherty, Harry Kirkpatrick, Mark Kelly, Ciaran O’Hagan