Ballymoney United Youth Academy

THE Under 9s put the disappointment of last week’s defeat behind them and North End suffered the backlash of the “wee Toon”.

Jonathan Kirk returned at the back, where he was once again outstanding, ably assisted by Joseph Byrne.

This allowed Leon Patton to return to his favoured centre forward position, and he along with Kirk McLaughlin and Andy Stinson played some lovely attacking football, with Tony Kelly pulling the strings in midfield.

Despite all their early position it took Ballymoney seven minutes to take the lead, Kelly scoring after a great passing move involving Stinson and Patton.

It was 2-0 a minute later when a fine move was finished by McLaughlin who benefited on 14 minutes from another Patton/Stinson assist.

McLaughlin made it 5-0 with two goals in quick succession at the start of the second half, the first from a Patton pass, the second from a Stinson cross.

Stinson himself made it 6-0 when the North End keeper couldn’t hold his cross. The scoring was completed by a brace from debutant Matthew Wright, the first the pick of all the goals when he latched onto a McLaughlin through ball and the last from a Kelly corner. This was a good attacking performance by the boys made possible by resolute defending from Kirk and a hard working selfless performance by Kelly. This was just the tonic the boys needed after last week.

Man of Match: Tony Kelly

Under 11s 5-0 Coleraine Olympic

Ballymoney turned up in buoyant mood after an impressive display last week.

They had the extra incentive of finding out league leaders Limavady had just been beaten 7-0.

Ballymoney dominated the early stages of the game, carving out many chances but their final touch, or good goalkeeping kept them level after twenty minutes of play.

Ballymoney were awarded a free kick and when James Drain found Harry Mitchell, he took it on the chest, turned and smashed it high into the net to make it 1-0.

Colm Darragh and James Drain both came close to scoring but the crossbar and some frantic defending left the score 1-0 at half time.

Coleraine finished the first half playing good counter attacking football and for the first ten minutes of the second half there were a few nervous moments, but when Conal Doherty made it 2-0 to Ballymoney.

This goal relaxed the team, and Ballymoney dominated the remainder of the tie. There were more goals to follow, PJ McAleese muscling his way past the defender and slotting it into the corner to make it 3-0 and Conal Doherty pouncing on a defensive mix up to lob the keeper and make it 4-0.

Mathew Knight continuously tortured the Coleraine defenders and it was just reward when he popped up to score goal number five and pick up man of the match.

Another solid team display from the boys and the link up play from Conal, Mathew, and PJ is a joy to watch. Well done boys!

Man of Match: Matthew Knight

Under 12s 5-4 Coleraine

The Under 12s hosted Coleraine on Saturday.

Ballymoney started the brighter of the two sides passing the ball well and making good use of the space.

However Coleraine’s goalkeeper looked bright, and was quick off his line to gather up the through ball. Ballymoney’s passing caused problems for Coleraine, however Coleraine pressed quickly and were able to break, capitalising on a rare mistake from Ballymoney’s goalkeeper. For the rest of the first half both teams were evenly matched.

In the second half Coleraine started the game quickly and grabbed two goals to go 3-0 in front.

The Ballymoney boy kept their heads, and superb work from all players and goals from Reece Heggarty and Jude Black saw Ballymoney go level.

Coleraine were able to grab a fourth five minutes from time, but Ballymoney kept battling, winning a free kick at the edge of the box which was slotted into the goal by Ryan Brolly.

Not happy with the draw, Ballymoney kept up the battle, and a a surging run from Callum Munnis saw Ballymoney grab the winner with the last kick of the game.

Ballymoney thoroughly deserved the win and every player battled hard right until the end.

Man of Match: Reece Heggarty

Under 13s 4-2 Coleraine

The Under 13s continued their unbeaten start to the season on Saturday with a win over Coleraine.

Ballymoney went behind twice in the first half and needed goals from Seaan Elliot and Drew McCrellis to make it 2-2 before Josh Stinson scored on 29 minutes to leave Ballymoney 3-2 up at half time.

The second half was again a hard fought affair with the Toon having to defend with bravery and Adam Wright having to pull off some great saves before Seaan struck again to put the game beyond Coleraine’s reach.

Man of Match: Adam Wright

Under 14s 2-2 North End

The 14’s played out almost a replica of last week’s match leading early on, then having to fight for a point.

The team settled well and played someintelligent football. Their passing and movement caused problems for North End.

On 15 minutes Clint Bolton broke clear of the defence with only the keeper to beat from 8 yards, but somehow he blasted wide after O’Neills clever pass.

Ballymoney were well on top and the same player was again free in the box but failed to test Horner in the visitor’s goal. It seemed the hosts might pay the price for missed chances as North End started to get a grip on the game with McCann, Smith and Kirkpatrick having to work extra hard in midfield to prevent the visitors creating any clear chances. But, it was third time lucky for Bolton who got his goal after a clever counter attach involving slick passing from Kelly, O’Neill and McCann seen him one-on-one with Keeper Horner again and this time giving him no chance from 12 yards for a deserved 1-0 half-time lead.

North End came out and dominated after the break with keeper Blair and several other suffering some heavy tackles in the process as the hosts passing game was brought to a halt.

The equaliser soon arrived when striker Carson wriggled free in the box to slip the ball past Blair from two yards and Harbinson near post free kick was headed into the top corner by Graham for a 1-2 to the visitors a short time later.

The home team reorganized as North End retreated, and Ballymoney eventually got a deserved equaliser through Bolton, following fine play from Smith and Moore.

Another hard earned point as they battle with the National League big boys.

Man of Match: Liam McCann

Next Match: away - Crusaders