Northend Youth kick off new season

In the South Belfast Youth League, the U15s lost to Dungoyne U15s in their opening match against last season’s League Winners.

The U10 Team, who will compete in the prestigious George Best Youth League, begin with a home match against Hillsborough Boys on Saturday, September 11.

Cavehill Colts U11s 2 Northend United U11s 2

A typical opening game of the season, played at Ballysillan, with many passes going wayward for both teams. Cavehill Colts opened the scoring after ten minutes after the Cavehill winger skipped past three Northend players and put the ball into the top corner of the net.

Northend had plenty of chances to level the score but final touch let them down inside the box. Cavehill went further in front when from a corner, their striker volleyed home unchallenged.

Northend continued to have a lot of the ball down the left wing and James Hayburn and Stephen Williams were linking up well and Hayburn pulled Northend back into the game when he took a corner, which was only partially cleared as far as him, and he volleyed the ball into the top corner of the net, to make the score 2-1.

Northend pulled level when David Bell ran onto a long ball, then pulled the ball back for Kuba Babuszewski to blast the ball home, leaving the score 2-2 at half time.

The second half saw Northend go on the attack from the start and they missed numerous chances when in good positions. The Northend defence was marshaled by Man of The Match Aaron Campbell and Jordan Stock, who stopped anything coming their way, leaving Ruairi Campbell in the Northend net with a quiet second half.

Northend could have won the game when Jamie Stevenson ran through on goal only for the keeper to make a good save. This was a good performance from Northend’s new U11 team with Matthew Irwin, James Hayburn and Stephen Williams in great form.

Man of the Match – Aaron Campbell

Panel: R Campbell, J Wray, J Hayburn, A Campbell(c), J Stock, M Irwin, J Stevenson, K Babuszewski, S Williams, D Bell, D McCalmont, C Thompson, R Gordon, J Adams, J O'Loughlin

Carrick Rangers U12s 2 Northend United U12s 4

Northend United Youth U12s travelled to Greenisland to play Carrick Rangers in the first league game of the season.

It took a while for the team to get going against their big and very physical opponents and indeed the match did not spark into life until well into the half when good play on the right saw Robbie Dennison and Gareth Downey combine to play in David Kilgore, who broke through the defence, he kept a cool head to put it past the keeper and put Northend one up.

Carrick drew level soon after when their striker just beat the offside trap to give James Morgan in goals no chance. They then they took the lead, a free kick deceived young Morgan and ended up in the net to put Carrick two one up at half time, to say their supporters were happy might be an understatement.

The second half started with Northend pushing Carrick back but just couldn't find away through the defence and past the big keeper. Jack Galbraith replaced the injured Ben Sempey. Sam Bennett replaced the tiring Dennison.

Northend equalised when Philip Maybin won a tackle on the edge of the Carrick box and slipped the ball past their keeper, to send their players and supporters ecstatic.

Better was to come when Sam Bennett won a corner. The quick thinking of Zack Herbison and Philip Maybin taking it short and when Maybin crossed Andrew Milligan slammed the ball in at the far post.

Northend were well on top now and a great flick from Herbison on the halfway line sent David Kilgore clear and he gave the outrushing keeper no chance to put United four two up at the final whistle.

Man of the Match: Andrew Milligan

Panel: J Morgan, G Downey(c),C McHugh, P Maybin, J Crawford, O Boyle, R Dennison, B Sempey, D Kilgore, Z Herbison, A Milligan, J Galbraith, S Bennett, E Elliott, S Stewart.

Northend United U13s 2 Carrick Rangers U14s 4

Northend U13s opened their season with a match against Carrick Rangers at Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday night. Play flowed from end to end with no team really dominating the other, in the opening fifteen minutes.

Northend opened the scoring when a great throughball from midfield left Eoin McCorkindale through on goal, only to be upended. Leo Morgan coolly stepped up to beat the keeper with the resultant spot kick.

Northend continued to take the game to Carrick but in the final ten minutes of the first half, allowed in Carrick to score two goals to make the half time score 2-1 to Carrick.

The second half began with the same pattern as the first. Played again flowed from end to end, however Carrick got a lucky break and increased their lead with a shot from twenty yards.

Northend had chances to score when Leo Morgan went on a jinxing run past three defenders but narrowly shot wide of the target.

Carrick Rangers scored a fourth, again a shot from outside the box to make the score 4-1, with ten minutes of the match remaining.

Northend scored another goal five minutes before the end of the game when Eoin McCorkindale broke through and beat the Carrick keeper with a low shot into the corner of the net. With no further scoring, the game ended 4-2 to Carrick Rangers

Man of the Match – Michael Carberry

Panel: G Drezewski, R Ward, J Dawson, M Carberry, P Nowak, J King, H Kilgore, L Morgan, J Simpson, M McAuley, E McCorkingdale, A Dubyna, C McCormick, K Jaworski

Northend United U14s 1 Glendowan U14s 4

Northend U14s started off their first league match of the season, against the unknown Glendowan team from Belfast. Northend had the better of the early stages but failed to clear the ball from a corner kick after ten minutes and conceded a goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Northend came back almost immediately and Stephen Hare was unlucky when his shot was cleared off the goal line and Dylan Hamill drove the rebound narrowly wide.

Play flowed from end to end in a hectic first half and Northend were unlucky when a pile driver of a shot cannoned off the crossbar and was cleared to safety.

However Glendowan were always dangerous on the break and from a left wing cross the ball ended up in the Northend net, giving the visitors a surprise 2-0 lead.

In a disastrous end to the first half, Glendowan scored a third goal, again starting from their left wing and ending up with their striker scoring past Ross Swan in the Northend goal

Northend came out for the second half in more determined fashion. Jamie Speirs and Thomas Brady began to stamp their authority on the game and after some good passing play on the edge of Glendowan’s penalty box, Thomas Brady was on hand to drive the ball past the Glendowan keeper and low into the net to make the score 3-1.

Northend began to pile on the pressure but found the Glendowan defence in top form. The second half play became bogged down in midfield but David Bradley and Stephen Hare created openings for shots that caused the Glendowan keeper to pull off some good saves.

With time running out, Glendowan caught Northend on the break and scored their fourth goal of the game, to leave the final score 4-1 to Glendowan

Man of the Match: Stephen Hare

Panel: R Swan, N Shannon, J Donnelly, M Laverty, N Swann, J Speirs (c), T Brady, D Hamill, R Gault, S Hare, D Bradley, M Wright, P Greer, A O’Donnell, C Tierney, C McCambridge, B O’Mullan

Northend United U15’s 0 Dungoyne U15’s 5

An understrength Northend United travelled to last season’s League Winners, Dungoyne, in their opening match in the South Belfast Youth League.

Missing a few regulars, this was always going to be an uphill task. Dungoyne started in fine form going into a 1-0 lead on ten minutes. The Northend defence of Ryan Douds, Lee Kirk, Matthew Kirk and Mark Robinson continued to soak up the Dungoyne pressure but were unlucky when Dungoyne scored a killer second goal just before half time.

The second half started in much the same way as the first, with the strong Dungoyne team taking the game to Northend. The Northend midfield of McAfee, Cunningham, Kennedy and Dunne were working hard against the Dungoyne midfielders, but the League Winners began to dominate play.

In a forgettable game, Dungoyne went on to score another three goals in the second half to leave the final score 5-0 to Dungoyne.

Panel: R Kinney, R Douds, L Kirk, M Robinson, M Kirk, D McAfee, S Cunningham, R Kennedy, C Dunne, C Ferris, B Lynas, A Hughes, D Freeburn

New Coaches

Northend United Youth are pleased to welcome some new coaches to the club in the form of Mark Lecky and John Scullion for the U10 Team, Stevie Turner for the U12 Team and Michael Smith for the U13 Team and wish them all the best for the new season.

Players

Northend United Youth are looking for players born in the Years 1998- 2001. If you are interested, why not come along to training on Monday nights at Ballymena Showgrounds Pitch 3 6.30pm - 8.00pm or contact John Devlin on 07919056834

Fixtures For Saturday, September 11

Under 10s Vrs Hillsborough Boys at Showgrounds

Under 11s Vrs Greenisland BB at Showgrounds

Under 12s Vrs Comber Rec at Smithfield

Under 13s Vrs Comber Rec at Comber Rec

Under 14s Vrs Larne Youth at Sandy Bay

Under 15s Vrs Immaculata to be announced.