U10S IN TOURNAMENT ACTION

Today we had the Carniny 2014’s at the Ards Eats Invitational Tournament. 2 teams entered, a lot of football played and a great day was had by everyone. The tournament consisted of a league setup followed by knockout stages, 24 teams in total.

Carniny Youth

Match 1 vs Ards Academy
- the boys started the tournament full of energy with plenty of goals. Gary got the scoring started, followed up by goals from Seth, Harlow & Connor. Solid defensive work & some great saves from Jake (GK) saw us start with a 4-0 win.

Match 2 vs Larne
A tougher match against a skillful team started well but fell behind after a few minutes. Connor picked up the ball & fired home a great left footed goal to equalise. After some gritty football Larne ran out winners in the end with a late winner in the match. Result 1-2

Match 3 vs Oxford SS
- Up again against a quality team and fell behind early by a single goal. The boys really worked hard together & after a contender for Goal of the Tournament (as recommended by the organisers) by Nathaniel a draw was maybe the fairest result. 1-1

Match 4 vs Doyle
- A physical team would frustrate the team throughout, doing well to crowd us off the ball & after some controversial match play we were narrowly defeated. The boys worked very hard & pushed right to the end. Result 0-1

Match 5 vs BYM
- The boys started well and had some good efforts from Seth & Billy but couldn’t break the deadlock. BYM showed their quality in the end and ran out winners, but no shame in how the team performed together. Result 0-2

Match 6 vs Ards Rangers
- The next match was a back to back game, no break from the previous, so the boys needed to really dig deep against more tough opposition. We started well & Connor with a great goal gave us the energy to keep going. A second from Carter & a classic Strikers goal from Billy saw us run out victorious. Result 3-0

Match 7 vs 1st Bangor
- The last of the league games, the boys worked very hard but just couldn’t break the deadlock. Jake stood strong again in nets with some super saves for his tiring teammates. Result 0-0

Knockouts

Match 8 vs Lisburn Rovers
- proceeding to the knockout stages we faced opposition from a different league on the day, starting well the boys stayed on the front foot throughout. After a blistering run from Nathaniel the ball fell kindly to Seth who got his 2nd headed goal of the day. Result 1-0

Match 9 vs BYM Colts (QF)
- Our quarterfinal match saw us face the 2nd BYM team of the day, and our boys wanted redemption from an earlier defeat. Starting on the front foot and working as a team, they ran out strong winners with a brace for both Connor & Seth. Excellent defensive work as a team in this one with the pressures of advancing in tournament handled well by all. Result 4-0

Match 10 vs Ards Rangers (SF)
- with the pitches emptying & it becoming increasingly obvious how far we had advanced the pressure was starting to show on our young team. A hard fought battle from both sides, with particular good defensive work from Gary, Nathaniel & Jake between the posts and additional support from Harlow in midfield saw us hit a stalemate. Result 0-0 **after a well contested penalty shootout we were knocked out at this late stage.

Fantastic effort & great teamwork, played 120 minutes of competitive football through the day. Our tired team should hold their heads very high, we are all extremely proud of them, bring on the next one!!