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Match Report · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 128

U-18 National 5-a-side
(Irish Final)
13/03/2009

For the second year in a row, Knocknamuckley made the short journey to Craigavon Leisure Centre for the Irish Final of the National 5-a-side. Knocknamuckley had won through the two previous rounds of this competition relatively comfortably, to compete as one of the best six teams in Ireland, hoping to finish top and be crowned as Irish. With this years United Kingdom Final being held in Northern Ireland, there was also the consolation prize that the runners-up would also progress to the nationwide final.

v 1st Ballymoney

Knocknamuckley were drawn to play in the first match of the tournament against 1st Ballymoney. Knocknamuckley started at quite a low tempo, but began to work openings as the half progressed. Gregg Harrison came close with a free kick that the goalkeeper reacted to well, to save with his right foot, and again denied Harrison soon after. Simon Grey also tested the keeper. Harrison came within inches of gaining the lead when his shot flew narrowly past the post, and Nathan McConnell called the goalkeeper into action. Ballymoney sat back and defended, limiting Muckley to long range shots, who seemed to be running out of ideas of how to open up the resilient defence. Fortunately for Muckley they didn’t have to do much work for their next chance when a Ballymoney defender inexplicably put his foot into the box to knock the ball back to his keeper. Gregg Harrison stepped up and put his spot kick low to the keeper’s right to give his side a one goal lead going into half time.

Half Time 1st Knocknamuckley 1 v 0 1st Ballymoney

The second half followed much the same pattern as Ballymoney defended in numbers and Knocknamuckley were unable to fashion any chances of note. One move which went against the pattern of play so far involved an incisive passing move involving Harrison and Stephen Russell, which set up Andrew Poole for a shot, but ?? The frustration at trying to break down the Ballymoney defence began to show as Knocknamuckley were now trying to over play the ball in silly positions, resulting in the ball being given away in defence on more than one occasion. Luckily for Knocknamuckley, Ballymoney didn’t manage to capitalise on these mistakes. Muckley also gained a free kick in a favourable position, but some poor decision making saw the chance go a-begging, as the frustration grew, but in the end the one goal was enough for the first three points of the tournament.

Full Time 1st Knocknamuckley 1 v 0 1st Ballymoney

1st Cullybackey 3 v 2 7th Portadown
2nd Castlederg 1 v 1 1st Ardstraw

v 1st Cullybackey

Knocknamuckley second game was against 2nd Cullybackey, who they had drawn against in the previous round, and who were coming off a bit of a thrashing to 7th Portadown in their first match.

The first chance fell Cullybackey’s way as Seth Mathers, in the Muckley goal, was forced to make a save in a one-on-one situation, as Cullybackey broke quickly from a throw from their goalkeeper. Stephen Russell went close when he fired a shot just wide, before Cullybackey replied with a similar effort. Cullybackey began to take control of the half, as Mathers made a number of saves to keep the scores level. Simon Grey had a good effort saved by the keeper’s legs, and Gregg Harrison was unlucky to see his shot from a narrow angle come off the inside of the post.

Half Time 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 0 1st Cullybackey

Mathers was again needed to make a save, before the game began to progress pretty evenly, with half chances for both sides. It was however Knocknamuckley who took the lead, when Stephen Russell stuck out a leg to deflect a driven shot from Gregg Harrison into the net.

Unfortunately this lead lasted all of a minute. Cullybackey were awarded an indirect free kick, from which they shot. The shot took a deflection off a Muckley leg, which was attempting to block the shot and the ball ended up in the back of the net for a soft equaliser.

After the equaliser the side started to make the same mistakes as in the last game, by trying to do too much with the ball in dangerous positions. After Simon Grey had given the ball away in defence, Mathers had to race off his line to make a great save. As Mathers was on the ground the ball had came off his body and fallen to a Cullybackey player at the far side of the hall, with the goal at his mercy. Mathers managed to scramble to his feet before throwing himself full length to make a marvellous save, and easily the best save of the night.

Knocknamuckley had the better of the closing moments, and had their chances to win it, although Cullybackey also had chances on the break. Harrison was played in one on one with the goalkeeper, and after taking his time, managed to beat the goalkeeper, for a shot from a narrow angle, but sent his shot wide of the far post. Muckley managed to create another good chance, but after finding space on the edge of the box, Grey took a touch which allowed a defender to get in to block his shot.

Full Time 1st Knocknamuckley 1 v 1 1st Cullybackey

1st Ardstraw 0 v 1 1st Ballymoney

v 2nd Castlederg

Knocknamuckley came up against reigning Irish Champions 2nd Castlederg in their third game of the tournament. Andrew Poole started the game in wonderful form, showing great touch, constantly running to close down men in defence, and competing for the ball like a man twice his weight. A Castlederg player was shown the yellow card, which meant that he was sent to the sin bin, and his team was reduced to four players for two minutes. Gregg Harrison had a shot saved as Muckley tried to make their numbers count, but Castlederg also managed to force a save from the Muckley keeper, Seth Mathers, as the two minutes elapsed with no change to the scoreline.

Half Time 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 0 2nd Castlederg

At the beginning of the second half Mathers was again in inspired form. Matthew Kimmons put in a wonderful tackle as he tracked all the way back to stretch and take the bal of the striker’s toe.

Seth then managed to make another great save as he had to readjust late following a deflection to turn the ball away. Unfortunately there was nothing Mathers could have done about the next chance as Castlederg took the lead. Muckley pushed to draw level, but Harrison’s shot came back off the post as Muckley’s luck in front of goal continued, and condemned them to their first defeat in their tenth game in this competition this year.

Full Time 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 1 2nd Castlederg

7th Portadown 0 v 2 1st Ardstraw
1st Cullybackey 0 v 1 2nd Castlederg
7th Portadown 1 v 0 1st Ballymoney
1st Ardstraw 0 v 3 1st Cullybackey

v 7th Portadown

Knocknamuckley took on the hosts and local rivals, 7th Portadown, next. Despite not having the best start to the competition Knocknamuckley knew that if they could win their final two games that they would finish at least second, thanks to other results. The first half was typical of contests between the two teams, as it was a keenly contested and very even game, consisting of very few first half chances.

Half Time 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 0 7th Portadown

The second half was much the same as the first, although 7th Portadown looked to be the more likely to get a goal, and so it proved. Portadown defended very well, but seemed to be getting away with a number of borderline infringements, especially tugging of the shirt, while Andrew Poole recieved a stern talking to by the referee for a mistimed tackle. The most controversial decision of the match however centred around foul language used by a 7th Portadown player. In Boy’s Brigade football it is made clear in the rules that foul language is punishable by a straight red card. After a Portadown player had missed a clear chance, he was heard, very noticeably cursing loudly, but this was ignored by the official.

Simon Grey and Andrew Poole both had shots at goal as they tried to rescue a point, but the game finished with just the one goal separating the two teams, and ended Knocknamuckley’s hope of a place in the UK Finals.

Full Time 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 1 7th Portadown

2nd Castlederg 2 v 0 1st Ballymoney

v 1st Ardstraw

The final game saw Knocknamuckley play Ardstraw, with only pride at stake.

Gregg Harrison had a shot saved as Knocknamuckley competed well, and Seth Mathers made another save, and a block was needed from Stephen Russell to prevent the rebound being knocked in. Ardstraw did take the lead though when their striker finished after receiving a pass which was played off the back wall.

Half Time 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 1 1st Ardstraw

The game became quite heated at the end of the first half, and this carried over into the second half, as Harrison received a yellow card for a poor tackle. Ardstraw scored from the resulting free kick, but didn’t make their extra man count any further. Matthew Kimmons was giving everything in defence with some strong challenges, some of which seemed to rile the Ardstraw players, although there was very little wrong with any of the challenges. Andrew Poole was introduced near the end of the game, and capped off a fine performance on the night with a deserved goal.

Full Time 1st Knocknamuckley 2 v 1 1st Ardstraw

1st Ballymoney 2 v 1 1st Cullybackey
2nd Castlederg 3 v 0 7th Portadown

The final match pitted 2nd Castlederg against 7th Portadown. A win for Portadown would see them win the tournament, while any other result would give the trophy back to Castlederg for the second year in a row. The game finished in a resounding 3-0 victory for Castlederg, who were deserving winners.

Despite coming into this final with high hopes Knocknamuckley finished bottom of the table with goals scored the deciding factor between 5th and 6th. Unfortunately Knocknamuckley just failed to turn up on the night, with the majority of the squad failing to capture their true form, although this was definitely not through lack of effort, as every player was fully committed. The only positives that can be taken from tonight, are that only one team conceded fewer goals, largely thanks to a great display from Seth Mathers, and also, the performance of Andrew Poole, who had his best performance in a Muckley shirt. After this disappointment, attention must now turn to the semi finals of both the Northern Ireland Cup and the Lurgan BBOB Sevens, in order to bring silverware back to Knocknamuckley.

Team- Mathers, Grey, Russell, Harrison, Poole, Kimmons, McConnell.