05 Sep Match Reports – 03/09/22
CYFC u11s MUYL defeated Dungannon Youth
First Saturday in September and it’s pouring down … it can only mean one thing … first league match for the U11colts! The squad made the short journey to Castlecaulfield to play their opponents – Dungannon Youth in the Mid Ulster Youth League. Despite the wet conditions Cookstown youth had a blistering first half scoring 5 goals with no reply. However in the 2nd half the Dungannon Youth squad played some lovely attacking football and they created more chances. Cookstown youth certainly found it a lot harder to break down a resolute Dungannon team and there were some excellent saves from the Dungannon keeper in the 2nd half.
CYFC added to their tally by scoring another goal in the second half but this was countered by a well taken volley from a Dungannon youth corner. The final result finished in a 6-1 win to CYFC yet the real winner today was seeing the smiles on the boys faces with many playing their first ever competitive matches.
Well done boys – let’s keep working hard!
Team: James donaghy, Ben reide, cathal, caiden, Danny hugges, Cameron, Noah, Liam, Joshua. Dylan G
CYFC U11 Juniors 1-0 Armagh City
A very rainy Holm Park in Armagh was the venue for CYFC 2013s first game in the 2022/23 U11 MUYL where the Cookstown lads will go to battle against teams who are 1 year older.
CYFC started brightly and were unlucky not to lead at HT with James Doyle hitting the crossbar after a great through ball. CYFC kept piling on the pressure and it took some great recovery defending by an organised Armagh City side to deny chances for Donnacha Wylie and Noah McElhatton. Mason McAleece was a constant threat in midfield and from dead balls and after a dominant first half ended it felt like it was only a matter of time before the lads scored.
Breakthrough for CYFC finally came midway through the 2nd half where good work on the wing from Cillian Conway slipped in Danny Kelly who delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post which Tommy Mullan converted with a placed shot through the Armagh keeper’s legs. It was no more than they deserved. Armagh remained a constant threat but CYFC controlled the remainder of the game with Dave Vaits, Ashley Carson, Séan Corrigan and Julian Ostrowski commanding the backline ensuring the 2013s came away with the win and a clean sheet.
Team: Julian Ostrowski, Sean Corrigan, Ashley Carson, Dave Vaits, Noah McElhatton (c), Mason McAleece, Donnacha Wylie, Tommy Mullan, James Doyle, Cillian Conway, Danny Kelly
MOTM: Tommy Mullan
Cookstown Youth 1 – 0 Lurgan Town
Cookstown faced a real strong and competitive Lurgan Town side, at home, for their opening fixture of the season and it proved to be a great game. It was the home side who took the game to the visitors, right from the off, with Davidson looking to slip in the attacking trio of Bell, Timoney and Martin on every occasion. Majority of Cookstown’s attacks in the first half came down Lurgan’s right hand side, the home team’s defence pulling Lurgan Town players out of position by being patient, inviting the press and playing out from the back. This enabled the two new signings, Compton and Bell to link up and get the visiting defence constantly on the back foot. Lurgan Town’s goalkeeper pulled off a few smart saves to deny Timoney and Martin to keep the home team at bay. Lurgan themselves, had a cracking effort cleared off the line via the head of Cookstown’s Conway, this sent both teams in goalless at half time.
The visitors were more of a threat in the second half but anything that came at the Cookstown defence was comfortably dealt with by Rogers and Compton, who were both excellent with and without possession, all day. Timoney struck the crossbar not once, but twice, with two bullet free kicks and from the rebound of one of them, Davidson had the ball in the net but was ruled out for offside. The Cookstown lads’ tails were up and with Mc Aleer and Conway dominating the midfield battle and driving their team on, it was only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken. Step forward Calum Walshe, only off the bench a matter of seconds and he weaved his way through two challenges in the Lurgan Town penalty area before calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Cookstown remained a threat but dug in to see out the game and hold onto their 1 nil lead. A real team performance from whole squad.
“The lads were a constant threat today and played some excellent football, with seven or eight players exchanging passes before getting a shot on their goal. Always that danger of getting caught out when it’s at 0-0 but our keeper and back four were also outstanding. Great win.” Ryan Martin
Team
•Ruairi O’Hagan •Andrew Keane •Tyler Rogers •Matthew Compton •Luke Compton •Shea Conway •Adam Mc Aleer ©️ •Hayden Martin •Jonah Davidson •Caleb Bell •Orann Timoney •James Corrigan •Joshua Mc Cabe •Conall Hampsey •Calum Walshe
Player of the Match : Orann Timoney – lead the line brilliantly, bringing other players into the game and unlucky with both his free kicks. Deserved a goal. Also stepped into nets for last 10 minutes due to injury to goalkeeper.