Louis solid at the back for Amateurs U14s

Playing with the wind to their backs in the first half, Dromore started strongly however the first real change fell to Lurgan and only a goal line clearance from Simon Percy in the fifth minute prevented Lurgan from taking the lead.

Dromore went close only a minute later when Jason Jacques fired wide but they opened the scoring only moments later when a Matthew Clements corner was headed on by Jordan Brush further into the Lurgan penalty area and Daris Benallal headed past the Lurgan keeper.

Assisted by the strong wind, Dromore pinned Lurgan into their own half for most of the first half and they had numerous chances to extend their lead. William Donnelly fired wide on 15 minutes after good interchange play between Matthew Clements and Jason Jacques, before Jack Fullerton doubled the lead in the 25 minute.

A Dromore throw in went straight over the heads of the Lurgan defence and Jason Jacques was first to react. He crossed the ball across the face of the Lurgan penalty area and Jack Fullerton had the simplest of tasks to roll the ball over the line.

Dromore then made it 3-0 in the 30th minute when Jason Jacques beat the Lurgan offside trap and placed his shot low past the onrushing keeper.

With the wind to their back in the second half, Lurgan were quick to pull one back and they would have scored again a few minutes later if Jamie Hanna in the Dromore net hadn’t pulled off a magnificent save to push the ball round the post to safety.

Lurgan continued to pile on the pressure in the early stages of the second half and - assisted by a number of free kicks conceded in dangerous areas of the pitch by Dromore – tested the home defence on a number of occasions.

Scott Thompson made another goal line clearance for Dromore whilst on other occasions a combination of Dromore players managed to scramble the ball to safety. Gradually however Dromore weathered the storm and worked themselves back into the game, forcing a number of corners off the Lurgan defence and coming close on a few occasions.

They were full value for their win and – although the whole team deserve credit for their performance – Louis Simpson had a particularly good game at the heart of the Dromore defence.

Team: Jamie Hanna, Stuart Ingram, Simon Percy, Louis Simpson, Jordan Brush, Jack Fullerton, Matthew Clements, Daris Benallal, Scott Thompson, William Donnelly, Jason Jakes, Jake Davison.