U9s take on Lisburn Youth in derby clash

In the first game Distillery were able to dominate against opponents who were physically smaller, although to say the boys simply overpowered Youth would be unfair as the boys in white inspired by the magnificent Calum Ashby in the middle of the park put together some superb passages of play.

Calum and Kenzie Bradley have developed a telepathic understanding and combined to make the first chance of the game for Noah Perry but Noah’s shot was well blocked by a defender.

The scoring was opened not long after when Calum finished superbly after great build up play from Ben Gilliland and Matthew Moore.

Lennox Young was next to get his name on the score sheet, the wee man showed a great piece of skill to beat his marker before out-sprinting the defensive cover and slotting the ball home calmly.

Distillery keeper Xander Power had to be on his toes when Lisburn Youth counter attacked racing off his line to clear the danger. Michael Rocks then made himself a chance to score but his final touch was a bit too heavy, not be denied when a similar opportunity arose Michael showed he had learnt from his previous experience and gave the keeper no chance with a cool finish.

Kenzie was taking up some excellent positions and how he didn’t get his name on the score sheet is a mystery but at this stage of the boys development it is the all-round game which is more important and he certainly produced a top-drawer display.

The Lisburn Youth boys battled to the end and deservedly pulled a goal back when the striker raced clear and finished well. If the whites were bigger in the first game they were certainly much smaller in game two when the Lisburn Youth team on average were much taller than the U-9s but again the boys demonstrated it’s not size that matters and stunned their opponents with an outstanding display of passing football.

Jake Donaghy followed Calums lead and dominated the game from the central midfield position, indeed Jake, Bradley Ingram and Ross White were almost unplayable in the first period and the only surprise was that they had only the one goal to show for all their dominance, Jake forcing the ball home after being set up superbly by Conall Cunningham.

The second period started a bit brighter for The Youth but Noah Kelly and the outstanding Ben Coulter in the Whites defence repelled whatever was thrown at them, Ben was very positive and aggressive and Noah notably cleared one dangerous corner with a great header.

Distillery then took complete control and the goals started to flow, firstly Spencer Maxwell who was causing real problems for the opposition defence finished off a flowing move then Bradley got the goals his performance deserved, one of them a towering header from an inswinging corner from Jake.

After just missing the target with a couple of shots Ross fired a rocket of a shot into the top corner when Bradley cleverly tapped a free-kick to him.

Conall Cunningham was getting a lot of space on the left wing and put it to good use getting his own name an the scoresheet as well as setting up the tigerish Jonathan McCullough for a goal.

In a carbon copy of the first game Lisburn Youth never gave up the fight and pulled a goal back near the end when the impressive forward went through a tackle and slotted the ball past the otherwise unbeatable Lewis Doyle in the Distillery goal.

An excellent day allround for the U9s and a big thank you to the all the Lisburn Youth coaching staff