Rathfriland U9s runners-up in tournament

The other three teams in the U9 competition were Damolly, Moneyslane and Warrenpoint.

Warrenpoint 4

Rathfriland started the competition very slowly with Warrenpoint dominating right from the start and scoring within the first five minutes.

Warrenpoint were very strong and comfortably beat Rathfriland 4-0 and would eventually go and win the all their games to lift the cup.

Rathfriland U9s 0

Damolly 0

Rathfriland U9s came out a different team for their second game against Damolly. This was a terrific game for the spectators to watch with Rathfriland totally dominating the game but were just unable to get the goal they richly deserved.

Even though Rathfriland hit the cross bar and post Damolly still posed a threat on the break. Rathfriland bombarded the Damolly goal with shot after shot but the goal never came and the game ended in a goalless draw.

Rathfriland U9's 1

Moneyslane 0

With Warrenpoint having won the competition this game became a race for runners up spot in the competition.

Rathfriland continued where they left off against Damolly by working hard and competing for every ball. This was another great game for the spectators and very enjoyable to watch.

Having had a pre match pep talk from Irish League players Gary Hamilton and James Costello Rathfriland were determined to show everyone what they could do.

Rathfriland were playing well with Henry McConnell looking strong at the back and Ethan Copes and Adam Loughlin dominating in midfield. This paid off in the second half when Eli Baxter turned the ball onto his stronger left foot and fired a terrific shot into the top corner.

Rathfriland almost scored again when Adam Loughlin had a terrific long range effort hit off the post before being cleared by a Moneyslane defender.

Oren Shimmons in the Rathfriland goal had very little to do and Rathfriland ran out victorious to claim runners up in the U9 competition.

This was a marvellous performance from Rathfriland with every single player contributing well. This was a great end to Rathfriland U9s first season and it showed how far they have come in such a short period of time and gives them a great platform to build on for next season.

A big thank you to all parents and friends who came down to support Rathfriland U9s as this meant a lot to the players.