Youths settle for draw

THE under 11’s inconsistencies continued on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against Ballynahinch.

After twenty uneventful minutes the visitors got the breakthrough when a scramble in the box resulted in a goal for one of Ballynahinchs’ twin girl strikers.

The academy midfield of O’Neill, McConaghie and Doherty were working overtime to keep things tight and a great last ditch tackle by Cunningham prevented a second goal as their striker closed in on goal, half-time 0-1.

Once again the youths staged a comeback within minutes when Dunlop beat the offside trap to fire into the top corner from the edge of the box 1-1.

Ballymoney were now on top and only a bad bounce of the ball prevented Conall Doherty from scoring. A superb block prevented McConaghies’ goal bound shot as the academy pressed on.

A swift counter attack by Ballynahinch saw them take the lead as the other half of the sister strikers poked the ball past McCook in goal. Straight from the restart Kirkpatrick and Moore combined well to release Ferris who fired home from eighteen yards to make it 2-2. The was no further score in the last ten minutes resulting in a draw that really helped neither side and once again Ballymoney paid the price for a poor start.

Team: Lyndon McCook, Craig Cunningham, Conleth O’Neill, Mark McConaghie, Adam Jamison, Odhran Doherty, Andrew Dunlop, Conall Doherty, Rhys Ferris, Mark Kelly, Harry Kirkpatrick, Drew McCrellis, Ryan McCook, Christopher Moore, Ben Murdoch