30 Oct Match Reports – 28/10/23
CYFC u10’s 4 – 2 Carryduff Colts
The heavens opened and closed just before kick-off on the debut game for Cookstown Youth U10’s against Carryduff Colts in the South Belfast Youth League at Blanchflower Stadium. After a somewhat scrapy start the team started to settle in well despite having most of the possession in the early stages went 1-0 down. A superb backheel volley from Kyle Chambers put us right back in it before half time 1-1. Jack Kirkpatrick & Zack Johnston keeping the defence line locked down with multiple clearances. Harris Hill showing great composure from both his saves and kickouts.
After the break Luke Fearon found himself one on one with the keeper and calmly steered around him and hit it low and hard into the left corner of the goal, 2-1 Game on! Ruairi Kelly and Ryan McCullagh having multiple shots on target finding the keepers hands, both covering a lot of ground in the middle of the field. Carryduff converted from space in forward line to make it 2-2. A cleanly hit corner by Jenson Bell found the head of Adam Toal who found the top corner of the net, 3-2. Jenson Bell Struck the ball well only to bounce off the keepers hands into the path of Kyle Chambers who didn’t hesitate in finding the back of the net 4-2.
Down the road with 3 points!
MOTM – Jenson Bell
Squad: H.Hill, J.Kirkpatrick, Z.Johnston, K.Chambers, R.Kelly (C), A.Toal, J.Bell, L.Fearon, R.McCullagh, J.Lennox, R.Gallagher
CYFC u12’s 2 – 1 Armagh City
After a couple of disappointing results the previous weeks the lads headed of to Holm Park where they would face Armagh city, a team a section higher up in what would be a very feisty game. Both teams showed a bit of nerves at the start and there wasn’t much to separate the two teams. Armagh took the lead with a free kick that we failed to clear, Riley Donnell got a hand to it but it just about crossed the line. 1 nil Armagh. The boys didnt let their heads drop and a great run down the right by Jamie Loughran beating 2 players and getting a good cross in, it was met by Zack Nellins to make it 1 each, game on. Another great peice of play where the boys strung a few passes together and a through ball by Cameron Donnelly was met by Noah Young who calmly slotted the ball in, 2-1 at the break.
Second half both teams created a good few chances and tackles where flying in, the referee was kept busy by dishing out 4 yellow cards. A great save by Riley left him injured and unable to play on which meant the skipper Keegan Kelly had to go in goals for the rest of the game. Armagh threw all they had and a great save by Keegan in the last minute kept the score at 2-1. All the travelling parents said it was a great game to watch and it was great to see the boys get stuck in and show some fight and passion.
Man of the match was Cathal Devlin, a solid performance today, nothing got passed him, well done.
Squad: R.Donnell, C.Ohagan, K.Kelly, C.Devlin, C.Conway, C.Donnelly, J.Loughran, Z.Nellins, N.Young, R.Hughes, J.Donnelly, D.Kelly
CYFC u18’s 1 – 3 Armagh City
A young Cookstown team almost had a nightmare start as the visiting striker got in behind the Cookstown back four far too easily but shot woefully wide. This sparked a good response from the home team as a Peter McClean free kick was parried out and Aaron Whitten almost knocked in the rebound. Then it was chief marksman McClean who fired home a 25 yard screamer to give his team a deserved lead. They looked to extend their advantage with Aren Kudrenko putting in a couple of dangerous crosses from the left flank and Sean Og Shields also very lively up front. The game turned on its head in less than 10 minutes as 3 goals put Armagh in a commanding position though two of them were easily available with individual errors proving so costly.
Cookstown keep battling and the defence of Sean Devlin, Harry McKenzie, Josh Burton and Leon Martin proved stubborn against high flying opponents and keeper Ethan Gordon pulling off a few good saves. Ronan Burns, making his debut for the team, had an eye catching game with his tenacity and direct play causing the visitors all sorts of problems down the right hand side and also a mention for Jake Quinn and Benjamin Gibson, who also acquitted themselves well stepping up from the younger team. Benas Keturakus had his usual solid game in a variety of positions as tactical switches failed to alter the direction of the contest.
A gutsy effort from a young Cookstown team and similar like performances in the coming weeks ought to bring more positive outcomes. Good luck to Armagh City for the remainder of the competition.
CYFC: E Gordon, S Devlin, J Burton, H McKenzie, L Martin, B Keturakis, P McClean, A Whitten, R Burns, S Og Shields, A Kudrenko, J Quinn, B Gibson.