U11s set up semi final derby

Banbridge Youth U11s 3

BANBRIDGE Rangers Youth travelled to Tannaghmore Gardens on Saturday morning to play Glenavon the Mid Ulster Shield Quarter Final.

After the Easter break the young Banbridge side were up for the game and started the better with excellent passing and control all over the pitch. The defensive partnerships of Hilland, Burns, McCullough and Crory were all in fine form with the Banbridge Youth keeper under no real pressure.

The opening goal came in the eighth minute when Jamie Adair slotted the ball into the back of the net following some terrific football involving Joel Reid, Daniel Moore and Bradley Harper.

The Glenavon defence was under severe pressure with Mark McCullough and Daniel Moore pushing forward at every opportunity and Mark McCullough got his just deserts on the 22nd minute when he blasted the ball into the top right hand corner.

The Banbridge boys went into the interval 2-0 up with a confident performance against Glenavon on their home turf.

The second half started exactly the same with spells of continued pressure however Banbridge were unlucky to concede a penalty ten minutes in to leave the score 2-1 and game on.

The boys’ heads didn’t drop and they continued to push on with Mark McCullough scoring again in the 51st minute; however the referee disallowed the goal as he deemed Simon McAllister was interfering with play.

Harper and McAllister played some fantastic 1-2 football and McAllister was rewarded for his perseverance with five minutes remaining when he cracked a brilliant right footed shot right into the bottom right hand corner.

Overall the team were fantastic with Jamie Patterson, Ryan Adamson, Alex Cochrane and Ben Berry all playing a major part in a really good team effort.

Man of the match this week was Dean McIlveena who had a fantastic game in nets, and was very unlucky not the save the Glenavon penalty.

This Saturday the semi final is an all Banbridge derby against the Town Juniors with a cup final place at stake, kick off 10.30am at the Tech Pitch.