Northend United sides aiming for Shield glory

Northend United Youth sends best wishes for a speedy recovery to Cameron Waring who sustained a bad injury on Thursday night playing for Ballymena U13s.

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Barn United 1, Northend 1: Barn were able to capitalise on an early period of domination on 15 minutes, when their striker found enough space in the box to pick his spot and slot home to make the score 1-0.

Northend equalised just before the break when O'Boyle placed a fine cross into the box, Jamie Stevenson was on hand to score his fifth goal in four games with a cracking volley into the roof of the net.

MOM: Scott Sempey, Matthew Downey

Northend: Kieran O'Boyle, Aaron Campbell, Scott Sempey, Tarlagh MaCrory, Alex O'Boyle, Aaron Montgomery, Jamie Stevenson, Matthew Downey, Shea O'Brien, Aidan Graffin, Matthew Erwin, Eoin McNally, Taylor Kernohan, Jamie Wray, James O'Loughlin.

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Ballyclare Colts 0, Northend 5: Knowing that a win would virtually guarantee Northend an excellent third place finish, Philip Maybin started the scoring when he picked up the ball 25 yards out, took a couple of touches before unleashing an unstoppable shot giving the Colts keeper no chance.

Northend didn't take long to double their lead after the break when Rhys O'Mullan beat two defenders before slotting the ball past the keeper before good play between Zack Herbison and Conor McHugh set up David Kilgore to score the third.

Northend’s fourth came when O'Mullan beat a couple of players and played the ball through to

Andrew Milligan scored Northend’s fifth and final goal when he shot from twenty yards over the keeper.

MOM: Andrew Milligan, Rhys O’Mullan

Northend: Ryan McKenna, Robbie Dennison, Andrew Milligan, Oliver Boyle, Jamie Crawford, Philip Maybin, Conor McHugh, Conor Graham, David Kilgore, Zack Herbison, Rhys O'Mullan, Sam Bennett, Eamon Elliott, Ben Sempey, Ryan Gordon.

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Northend 3, Whitehead Eagles 5: Whitehead went in front against the run of play when a long ball caught out the last defender and the Whitehead striker outpaced him to score past Anthony O’Neill in goal.

For Whitehead’s second goal when Northend won a corner it was cleared and the defender booted it straight up field and again their striker slid the ball into the net to put them 2-0 up.

Northend pulled one back when Joshua King played a perfect pass from midfield to Harry Kilgore who skipped pass two defenders and curled it into the far corner and the same player added a second soon afterwards to draw level.

In the second half, Whitehead went in front after Northend were forced into changes in their defence, to make the score 3-2.

Northend again drew level when the Kilgore brothers combined when Harry played a great ball down the line for Dave to brush off the big defender and strike from distance to give the keeper no chance, and an own goal gave the east Antrim side a fifth late on.

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Larne Youth 3, Northend 3: On five minutes, Jamie Speirs played a fine through ball to Jordan Donnelly, who found himself clear of the Larne defence and cleverly lobbed the ball over the keeper to open the scoring.

On 15 minutes Larne attacked Northend and their cross from the wing found two Larne players standing in an offside position and when the Northend keeper parried the cross, they were on hand to score to make the score 1-1.

From a Jamie Speirs corner, Niall Swann was on hand to score into the top corner of the net with a powerful header to restore the Ballymena boys' lead.

As play swung from end to end, a fine throughball from Larne midfielder placed their striker clear of the Northend defence and he hammered the ball past Niall Shannon to leave the score 2-2 just before half time.

From a penetrating run in midfield, Jamie Speirs cleared two Larne defenders and beat the keeper with a low shot into the Larne net, leaving the score 3-2 to Northend.

In the closing stages, the ball fell to the Larne striker he blasted the ball home to level the scores.

MOM: Jordan Donnelly

Northend: Niall Shannon, Stefan McLees, Caolan Tierney, Michael Laverty, Niall Swann, Jamie Speirs, Jaime Brown, Ryan Gault, Ciaran McCambridge, Brendan O’Mullan, Jordan Donnelly.

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Northend 5, Ballymoney YA 1: This Northend team is in top form at present and Brendan Lynas gave them the lead early on when he beat the Ballymoney keeper with a low shot on four minutes.

Declan McAfee was next to score on 15 minutes but Ballymoney pulled a goal back from a free kick just before the break

In the second half, Emmet Kerr increased Northend's lead when he scored a bullet header from an in-swinging corner.

Simon Cunningham, who had come on as sub, beat three defenders before planting the ball into the bottom corner of the net, and Ryan McIllroy scored Northend's fifth with a low drive into the bottom corner.

Northend: Dylan Little, Thomas Brady, Emmet Kerr, Ryan Douds, Declan McAfee, Mark Robinson, Sean McCann, Conan Dunne, Ciaran Ferris, Ryan McIllroy, Brendan Lynas, Simon Cunningham, Aidan Hughes.

MINI SOCCER ACADEMY

On Saturday, Northend had one team participating in the P3 Ballymena Mini Soccer League.

Saturday, May 8, sees the commencement of the P4 Ballymena Mini Soccer League at the Showgrounds. All players in the Northend teams are requested to meet at 1.15pm

The Mini Soccer Academy continues this Saturday, May 1, at Dunfane Pitch 1 from 2.15- 4pm.