The under 14’s bounced back from last weeks cup disappointment with a comprehensive performance against Armagh City, click on the link below to read more…
Saturday 16th March – Lisburn Invitational League under 14’s
Downpatrick FC 6 v Armagh City 1
First Half – Downpatrick 1 v 0 Armagh City
Downpatrick FC hit the ground running from the first whistle. The boys were playing nice neat attractive football and using the channels to their advantage. The emphasis for the team was to get the ball on the ground and play wide expansive football.
Corey McCoubrey and Adam Jervis were marshalling the midfield very well, breaking up any type of play. Eoin Rooney, Kian Tierney and Declan Looney were producing great link up play down the right wing and were creating chance after chance. With some better decision making and shooting, the score line could have been very different. The boys were guilty of wasting several goal scoring opportunities.
It took ArmaghCity boys fifteen minutes before they got their game going, this was due to the dominant play from Downpatrick FC in every quarter. At this point the boys were losing individual battles and were becoming overrun in midfield. This added pressure to the defence. They dealt with the pressure well, limiting ArmaghCity to a few chances.
It was at this point Downpatrick FC broke up an ArmaghCity attack and began a counter-attack of their own, producing nice interchangeable passing from defence and through midfield. The ball came to Tom Smyth who drove down the right wing where he laid a cross into Eoin Rooney inside the box, he controlled the ball well and his shot went in off the post, (1-0).
The football was end to end with Downpatrick FC defending well. Shane Campbell making some good saves. Downpatrick were forced into making a change due to a blood injury. Brandon Boyd came on for Tom Fitzsimons and with a couple of tactical changes; Downpatrick FC gained some momentum and saw out the end of the half without any further hassle.
Full-time – Downpatrick 6 v 1 ArmaghCity
Downpatrick began the second half as they left off the first half, in control of the play and dominating the opposition. The boys took on board the information from the half-time team talk. The football flowed and the boys began to express themselves more, they moved the ball at speed which created fast fluid football which Armagh City were unable to deal with. ArmaghCity produced a rare attack in the second half and gained a corner. There was some slack marking which allowed the opposition to get in front of the Downpatrick defence and attack the ball which resulted in a goal, (1-1).
This spurred the boys on; they took control of the game. Again, the boys were getting joy down the right hand side of the field, where Kian Tierney received the ball on the edge of the box and he lobbed the keeper to score, (2-1). The boys played with much more freedom and confidence. They were dominating all areas of play and their opponents. They out performed and muscled their way through the game.
Another attack led to play between Tom Fitzsimons and Kian Tierney where the ball was laid onto Eoin Rooney who scored a great goal from 18 yards with a first time shot, (3-1). The boys had the majority of possession and ArmaghCity had no answers to the constant attacks. This time more proactive play and movement between the midfield and forwards allowed Ruiari Quinn and Kian Tierney to exchange passes. Kian hit the crossbar and Tom Smyth scored from the resulting rebound (4-1).
The team formation changed throughout the match, to allow the whole squad to get game time. The boys continued to play effective football with Philip Doran, Eoin Rooney, and Ruiari Quinn tormenting the ArmaghCity defence. Another attack allowed Corey McCoubrey to score from the edge of the box (5-1). ArmaghCity goalkeeper was trying his best to keep the score line down. It was wave after wave of attack by the Downpatrick boys. They hit the crossbar again, and the post. They also had a goal disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper.
After the goalkeeper had made another fine save, he pushed the ball around the post for a corner, after good overlapping play. From the corner Brandon Boyd scored with a low shot, (6-1). Today the boys produced a fine display of attacking football. The whole squad should be applauded for their individual and team performances. It was not complete football, but, they got their season back on track with a style of football that Downpatrick FC wants to promote and maintain.
They boys were a little slow in the beginning of the match to move the ball quickly and took too many touches. As the game progressed this changed. The score line speaks for itself. It was a happy changing room after the game and all the boys were congratulated on their performance, work rate and effort.
