Ballynahinch Youth U16s 2-2 Carniny Youth U16s

The Wee Reds travelled to face league leaders Ballynahinch and, despite dreadful conditions at Grove in Belfast, produced an excellent display that left them frustrated not to come away with all three points.

Carniny started brightly and were quickly on the front foot. Excellent work down the left flank from Max, Jaydn and Sam created several early opportunities, with Sam twice being played through on goal, only to be denied by the Ballynahinch goalkeeper.

The visitors dominated midfield throughout the opening stages, while Max's distribution from left-back continually caused problems for the home defence. A couple of Ballynahinch breakaways threatened to upset Carniny's rhythm, but the Reds' back line stood firm to keep the game scoreless.

Alfie was beginning to influence proceedings and produced several excellent through balls, although the forwards were unable to convert the chances that came their way.

Against the run of play, Ballynahinch took the lead after 20 minutes. A dangerous run and cross from the left wing saw Vlad unfortunately fumble the ball into his own net. To their credit, Carniny responded superbly and were rewarded with a deserved equaliser just five minutes later. When the ball broke to Alfie on the edge of the area, he made no mistake, firing confidently into the net to level the scores.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Carniny continuing to enjoy the better of the play. The visitors pressed forward relentlessly but struggled to find the breakthrough their performance deserved. Several chances came and went before a superb defence-splitting pass from Alfie released Sam, who turned his marker brilliantly before firing high past the goalkeeper to put the Wee Reds 2-1 ahead.

Carniny looked in control and well on course for victory, but a moment of misfortune allowed Ballynahinch back into the game. Slack marking in midfield gave a home forward the chance to shoot, and a fortunate deflection sent the ball looping over a defender's head and kindly into the path of the attacker, who calmly slid home the equaliser.

The Reds pushed hard in search of a late winner and created a number of promising opportunities, but the decisive goal never arrived.

Despite the disappointment of dropping points so late, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance. Max, Sam H, Ben and Ollie were outstanding in defence, Alfie controlled the midfield impressively and Harley worked tirelessly leading the line.

In difficult conditions against quality opposition, Carniny showed tremendous character, attacking intent and resilience. While they may feel they deserved more than a point, it was another strong performance from the Wee Reds against the league leaders.