Carniny Youth FC round-up: Cup dream still alive for U-14s

The 14s will join the Under 13s who are also in the last eight of the Province-wide competition.

Not to be out done the Under 11s had a great result in knocking their unbeaten Lisburn League leaders out of the NIBFA Cup with a brace from Lewis Mearns, to progress to the Semi finals with a mouth watering clash against local rivals Ballymena Utd Youth Academy.

The Under 15s also had a good 3-1 away win against Armagh City in the National League, whilst the Under 9s and Under 10s enjoyed mini ‘derby’ wins against North End United Youth and Ballymena Youth Academy when the Ballymena teams met up in the North West Youth League. The only down side of the week was the U10 Amateurs loss to Ballymoney Utd YA.

TEENAGE KICKZ HITS RECORD NUMBERS

The latest youth initiative to arrive in Ballymena had almost thirty young people from the Borough availing of two hours free football complemented by energy drinks courtesy of the project sponsors.

The ‘Teenage Kickz’ project supported by the PCSP and managed by Carniny Amateur & Youth FC has gone from strength to strength since it started in late January and now in its seventth week has reached record numbers with three more weeks to go.

The fact that Friday evening past had some of the most inclement weather for some time was irrelevant for the young people taking part who have undoubtedly given the project the thumbs up which will no doubt please the Policing & Community Safety Partnerships who have generously funded ‘Teenage Kickz’ which gives young people a cheap form of entertainment on a Friday evening.

The organisers would ask any young person attending this week to be at the Showgrounds for 7.15pm sharp so the football can start sooner on Ballymena’s state of the art outdoor 3g surface.

‘Teenage Kickz’ has also attracted the attention of several bodies including the Irish Football Association who would applaud such projects around the Province helping make Northern Ireland a safer place to live.

TEATIME LEAGUE

The Carniny Amateur & Youth Teatime League continued to provide competitive yet friendly football for children under nine years for local youth sides in the area. Chimney Corner, Ballymena Y.A , Carniny Youth and Ballymoney United Youth served up a feast of football on the superb 3g facility at Ballymena Showgrounds and will continue to run for another two weeks.

The initiative, which is an Irish Football Association recognised Games Development Centre, has proven very popular and is an ideal stepping stone for young people in teams preparing to play in the Ballymena Invitational Mini Soccer League which starts in Spring.

Carniny would like to thank the teams who supported the venture and the staff at Ballymena Showgrounds for their help and support each week.

For full reports on the Carniny Youth matches, see this week’s Ballymena Times.