26 Jan Match Reports – 22/01/22
CYFC Colts u12s 4-0 Ambassadors
It was perfect conditions for football in Armagh as the Colts took on Ambassadors in the league.
The colts controlled this game from start to finish. The first goal came early from a whipped in corner from J. Jeffers was fumbled by the keeper and made its way over the line. The Colts defence of R. Rushe and T. Gormley kept a high line allowing the midfield four of E. McElhatton, J. Jeffers, J. Mulligan and T. O’Hare to push well into Ambassadors’ half. A T. O’Hare attack on the left was passed inside to a waiting Matthew
Ward who slid the ball into the right corner of the net to go 2-0 up.
J. Mulligan tortured the Ambassadors’ left side with both dribbles and well-delivered crosses.Another burst forward by T. O’Hare slipped a clever ball inside for man of the match J. Jeffers to strike sweetly into the top left hand corner, from the edge of the box. E. McElhatton broke down most Ambassadors’ moves through the centre allowing the Colts to attack in wave after wave. M. Ward tried to link up with his strike partner Montgomery and as the ball deflected to the edge of the box Montgomery reacted quickest to spin and strike a pure effort low into the bottom left corner with the keeper having no chance.
At 4-0 going into the second half, the Colts introduced Djorkaeff, and Harry Jordan as wingers, Riley Cooke into defence and Cathal McKeever as the holding midfielder. Ambassadors defended in numbers to make it difficult for the Colts to score. The Colts never gave up with some nippy passing resulting in Ambassadors keeper making a handful of fantastic saves to keep the score at 4-0. A couple of Ambassadors breaks up the field were quickly extinguished by the ever reliable Colts Keeper Riley Watters who was fast off his line to intercept. A brave save at an Ambassadors striker feet also ensured there would be a well deserved clean sheet at 4-0.
The Colts look forward to a home fixture vs Dungannon Colts on Saturday.
Team: Riley Wattters , Rory Rushe, Tiernan Gormley, Ethan McElhatton, Jake Mulligan, Johnny Jeffers, Tommy O’Hare, Matthew Ward , Ethan Montgomery, Djorkaeff De La Sousa, Harry Jordan, Riley Cooke, Cathal McKeever.
Dungannon Youth 1 – 3 CYFC u12s
Cookstown started really brightly and put Dungannon under pressure very early on in the game, should have taken the lead when Aodhan Loughran beat his man and cut inside on his left foot with a good strike only for the keeper to pull off a great save. Jonah Davidson followed up with the rebound which the defender cleared off the line. Cookstown were well on top with Mc Aleer and Conway controlling the midfield and everyone putting in a shift, limiting O’Hagan into making one notable save in first half. Both teams headed in at half time 0-0. 2nd half started much the same for Cookstown with some great football being played, they took the lead with a lovely through ball from Loughran, who found Conway and his pull back was finished brilliantly by last week’s player of the match Mc Aleer.
With Cookstown pushing for a 2nd they were caught short at the back and conceded an equaliser, against the run of play. Cookstown kept at it and were rewarded when the two subs combined to make it 2-1, firstly Corrigan done brilliant down the left hand side and got to the byline where his pull back found Mc Cabe, who tucked his chance away very well. In the closing stages Cookstown wrapped the win when Hampsey chased down a lost cause and got his reward when the ball rebounded nicely for him to score Cookstown’s third which rounded off a great morning and an excellent performance.
Man of the match – Shea Conway
Team
Ruairi O’Hagan •Andrew Keane •Tyler Rogers • Matthew Compton •Aodhan Loughran• Shea Conway •Adam Mc Aleer •Jonah Davidson • Kori Halligan • Joshua Mc Cabe •Calum Walshe •Conall Hampsey •James Corrigan
CYFC u16s 1-2 Bandbridge
On Saturday Cookstown entertained Banbridge who currently sit top of the Mid Ulster League Premiership section.
The game was a battle from the start with Cookstown only having 11 players to start the game. The home side worked extremely hard to keep their shape in the opening minutes of the game and were able to counter attack a few times. Darragh McHugh was doing well going forward on the right wing and his link up play with James Bell and Jude Murphy was creating some dangerous chances. The midfield of Jamie Kerrigan, Aaron Whitten and Shaun Og Shields worked tirelessly and were frustrating the Banbridge side. The left winger was Banbridge’s main threat and he was the player who won the penalty that allowed Banbridge to take the lead after 23 minutes. Cookstown didn’t become discouraged and instead continued to work hard with Aren Kudrenko making several good runs in behind from the left and Shaun Og Shields using his individual flair to create a few shooting opportunities from range for himself before the break.
The second half was a more physical battle as both teams fought for the points. The back line of Luke Neeson, Sean Devlin and Leon Martin were defending well and the frustration was starting to show in the away side. Despite this, they managed to double their lead when a misplaced pass in midfield allowed them to break quickly and leave Benas Keturakis no chance in the Cookstown goal. Again, Cookstown kept their heads up and kept pushing. James Bell and Jude Murphy were excellent with their hold up play and Shaun Og Shields was doing well to get some crosses into the box. With 15 minutes to go Cookstown pulled a goal back when Jude Murphy finished from close range from a Shaun Og Shields corner. Minutes later Jamie Kerrigan played a good ball out wide to Aren Kudrenko who did well, taking his defender on before squaring the ball to Jude Murphy who was just unable to finish as Banbridge managed to hold out for the win.
Team: Benas Keturakis, Luke Neeson, Sean Devlin (c), Leon Martin, Darragh McHugh, Aaron Whitten, Jamie Kerrigan, Shaun Og Shields, Aren Kudrenko, Jude Murphy, James Bell
