Comfortable win for Rathfriland U14s

The game started with Rathfriland playing an unfamiliar 4-2-3-1 formation that looked to exploit the space avAilable on the large Iveagh Park pitch.

The pace of Mallon wide left and Bailie wide right with Megaw up front was designed to stretch the opposition and it worked a treat.

An angled through ball from Weir in midfield found Bailie who cut a line straight for goal and slotted past the oncoming keeper to open the scoring inside five minutes.

Rathfriland kept sustained pressure on the midway back line throughout the first half and soon found a second goal when Megaw pounced to slam the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards out.

The central midfield duo of Weir and captain Pollock were dominant throughout and Pollock was rewarded with a goal after a fine dribble and shot from the edge of the box, making the score 3-0.

The link-up play from Byrne behind Megaw was excellent and the combination of the front four in attack caused Midway numerous problems.

The back four of Adams, Weir, Toner and Baird were solid with Toner deserving a special mention for his debut at this age group. He is really progressing since joining around christmas and should develop into a strong footballer.

Into the second half and Rathfriland seemed to get complacent, allowing Midway to get back into the game with Moffett in the Rathfriland goal being forced into a number of saves.

Rathfriland continued to attack with Bailie finding the net for the second time again breaking at pace and slotting past the keeper to make the score 4-0 to Rathfriland.

Rathfriland then let their guards down with Midway getting two goals back, making it a little nervy for the closing ten minutes.

Overall a good performance however manager Gilmore would have been happier to keep a clean sheet a see the game out when four goals to the good.

Team: Moffett, M.Weir, Adams, Toner, Baird, Pollock, A.Weir, Byrne, Mallon, Bailie, Megaw, Bingham, McConville.