United Under 15s enjoy great victory away at Cliftonville

The hard graft on the training park is now starting to pay dividends for Gary Boyd’s side as they dominated the Reds throughout to secure three goals and three points. The under 11’s played some of their best football of the season in defeating a talented Bertie Peacock side in Coleraine , the flying 13’s were also at the coast and defeated a Coleraine side for the second time this season. The 12’s headed to Belfast to face Linfield while the 14’s lost out in a tough encounter with Foyle Harps in the province’s top division.There is still time to secure a ticket for the Academy prize Christmas draw which takes place this Saturday as the seniors face Crusaders. With £1000 first prize and various other cash awards, contact any committee member or coach for a chance to win.

BUYA U11 4 V BERTIE PEACOCKS U11 2: The wee sky blues turned on the style in their final game before the winter break. Comfortable in possession and patient in build up play they took the lead when Adam Millar got on the end of an Adam Watterson pass to score.

Mark Lowry pulled the strings in midfield while Timmy McClure and Philip Kennedy were comfortable in defence. Peacocks levelled before half time but Millar quickly restored the lead from a Lewis Tennant cross. Ballymena continued to dominate and Mark Lowry’s quick thinking from a free kick put them 3-1 up. Peacocks then scored from a long range free kick before Calum Douglas played the prolific Millar in to complete another hat trick. An excellent first half of the season from a group who show lots of promise.

LINFIELD U12 V BUYA U12: It is highly unusual to see a number of Ballymena based players in the Linfield starting XI, but the light blues got on with their job despite missing five of the team that performed so well in their last outing. For the early exchanges they were more than a match for their opponents. Individual mistakes however where to cost United as the Blues began to press home their possession advantage.

COLERAINE U13 0 BUYA U13 6: After some good saves by the Coleraine keeper the breakthrough came when Ross McCausland outpaced two defenders before rounding the keeper and slotting home. The second goal came ten minutes later when Bobby Rainey shrugged off two challenges and rifled the ball past the keeper. The second half started with both sides intent on attacking the ball dropped to Oliver Hampshire who volleyed home to settle the game as a contest. This spurred the Sky blues on and a great 25 yard effort from Sean McAllister hit the net for number four then Bradley McCartneys powerfull run saw him finish for the fifth and Bobby Rainey completed the scoring when put clear.

FOYLE HARPS U14 2 BUYA U14 0: Ballymena looked a jaded outfit compared to the previous week’s performance and laboured against a team that was beatable. Both teams huffed and puffed in the first half without creating any real chances. Foyle were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box on the 38th minute of the first half, even though there had been no injuries in the first half. From the resulting free kick Foyle scored.

First half 1-0.Ballymena came out the second half and again seemed sluggish there was not the same fighting spirit from the week previous which saw them grab the win from a hard working display. Again both sides were cancelling each other out but some dubious refereeing decisions saw the Ballymena boys getting pinned back and back. Foyle’s second goal again came from a soft foul on the edge of the box and Ballymena were made to pay.

CLIFTONVILLE U15 1 BUYA U15 3: In the wind and rain at Mallusk, United were the side who took the game to the league leaders from the off. The impressive Stephen McColgan opened the scoring for the livewire Braid boys firing home after a missed clearance from the Reds defence. The Limavady hotshot got his second set up nicely by the ever improving Mark Cochrane. Cliftonville scored to reduce the arrears but United pressed on, Joshua Galloway was catching the eye on the left and Callum Smyth was a mainstay in defence, the latter getting his goal,a superb header from a well delivered Andrew Smyth corner.