Lisburn League Squad: Kyle Gilmore

Mid Ulster League Squad: Sam Gibbons

Congratulations boys and keep up the good work!

Loughgall travelled to Fairhill, Cookstown, to play league leaders Coleraine. From the first whistle Coleraine displayed the skills, confidence and determination that left no doubt in anyone’s mind why they were sitting in pole position in this u.11 league. Loughgall worked extremely hard and pulled out all the stops to hold back Coleraine’s onslaught. However Coleraine scored their first around the 4min mark and for the next 15mins it seemed Loughgall was under the cosh. Despite the best efforts of Loughgalls keeper Connor Brown who made several excellent stops and the back four of Ryan Parr, Matthew Cupples, James Orr and Sam Gibbons, Coleraine scored a total of 4 in this 15min period. However for the remaining 10mins of the first half, Loughgall seemed to come to terms with Coleraine’s tactics and cut out many of the long balls over their defence. In fact Loughgall brought the game to Coleraine on several occasions with Tim Wharton in particular impressing and hitting Coleraine’s upright twice. The score set at 4-0 at half time.

2nd half, Loughgall came out strong and matched Coleraine with several attempts at goal. However Coleraine scored their 5th approx 10mins into the 2nd half. Loughgall’s entire team worked tirelessly with Tim Wharton, Scott McCann, Sam Gibbons and Connor Brown impressing. Tim again hit Coleraine’s upright and put at least 2 shots inches wide of Coleraine’s goal. This was a true test of Loughgall’s young teams character and determination and perhaps one of their  most physical matches this season.

Loughgall’s  squad; Connor Brown, Ryan Parr, Matthew Cupples, James Orr, Sam Gibbons, Tim Wharton, Scott McCann, Luke Murray, Jamie Barbour, Luke Cartwright, Kyle West, Rhys McMasters and Jake Shields.

Man of the match:  Tim Wharton.

Thanks to the groundsman’s efforts, Loughgall’s game with Lower Maze was able to take place at Bog Road.  In recent weeks the team haven’t shown enough hunger and desire in games, but this definitely wasn’t a complaint in this match.  From the off Loughgall were the hungrier team and put Lower Maze under a lot of pressure.  Robbie Wright had a good chance to give Loughgall the lead, but on a difficult pitch was unable to find the necessary touch to score the first goal.  Centre back Jordan Frizzell closed down a Lower Maze mid fielder and then rounded another, only for his shot to run just wide.  Nathan Robinson though showed perfect technique to smash the ball into the top corner from out side of the box to give Loughgall the lead.  Loughgall should have been awarded a penalty when Robbie Wright rounded the keeper, and as he was about to place the ball in the net the keeper took his foot, no penalty was awarded though.

Loughgall dominated the first half and Lower Maze, as expected, responded in the second half, although we had more defending to do, Matthew Lutton in goal rarely was called upon to make a save.  Mark Johnston and Scott Capper were reliable in mid field to break down attacks made by the Maze.  In the second half the pitch began to become more cut up and players were sliding everywhere, despite this Loughgall were able to play some really good football, the type they play in training, and some of the football was good to watch.  Late on Jordan Frizzell made a great tackle to stop the Maze getting through on goal and both Robbie Wright and Adam Farrell came very close to scoring the winner during the ten minutes of added time.

A few regulars were missing today but every player present stood up and played the football I know they are capable of and we got the reward of three very deserved points!

Squad: Matthew Lutton, Nathan Robinson, John McConville, Jordan Frizzell, Sam McAdam, Adam Farrell, Mark Johnston, Scott Capper, Tom Holland, Robbie Wright, John McWilliams, Owen Cairns.

MOTM: everyone had a good game but both Nathan Robinson and Jordan Frizzell in particular stood out.

Loughgall Youth returned to action after a 3 week break with the short trip to Lurgan to face Lurgan Town. Loughgall started of confidently and it took time for Lurgan to get a touch of the ball as Loughgall strung together approximately 20 passes keeping possession brilliantly.

Lurgan then forced a corner with their first bout of possession. The corner was swung into the Loughgall front post and as Kyle Gilmore attempted to clear, the ball sliced of the outside side of his boot, struck the unfortunate Ryan Faulkner and somehow squeezed between James McCormack and the post to open the scoring in the most calamitous fashion.

Loughgall restarted and continued to play attractive football with Daniel Neill, Dale Mulligan and Jonathan Ewart dominating the midfield area and Luke Cartwright working tirelessly in attack. Loughgall dominated possession but were struggling to create any clear cut chances as the Lurgan sweeper was having an excellent game. Loughgall were restricted to long range efforts as Jonathan Ewart, Kyle Gilmore and Luke Cartwright all tested the keeper.

Lurgan were playing very much on the break and struggled to make any in runs into the Loughgall defence of Jack Hamilton, Ryan Faulkner, James McCormack and the impressive Scott McCann.

The second half continued much in the same vain as the first with Loughgall playing all the football and pegging Lurgan back for long periods. Adam Alexander cut inside after good play from Scott McCann and James McCormack but could only drag his shot wide. Another excellent move saw Daniel Neill and Luke Cartwright combine to release Jonathan Ewart but he was harshly adjudged to be offside when through on goal.

Next Kyle Gilmore and Jack Hamilton linked well as a Dale Mulligan snapshot flew narrowly wide of the Lurgan goal. The Loughgall goal of Daniel Acheson was rarely threatened as Loughgalls defence led by Scott McCann looked really solid.

Daniel Neill’s weighed pass caused panic in the Lurgan defence and the Lurgan keeper had to be alert to get to the bouncing ball before Luke Cartwright. William Graham and James Orr provided fresh legs as Loughgall continued to seek the equalizer which their dominance deserved.

A Kyle Gilmore floated free kick saw Jonathan Ewart time his run perfectly and meet the ball with a diving header only to see it go agonizingly inches wide with the Lurgan keeper rooted to the spot.

Time was now running out as James McCormack and Adam Alexander ripped through the right side of the Lurgan team with some brilliant football and James McCormack’s driven cross was acrobatically intercepted by the Lurgan sweeper with Jonathan Ewart and Luke Cartwright ready to pounce.

Loughgall continued to press as the final whistle sounded on an agonizing defeat to bring to an end a game which was played in a fantastic spirit by both teams. At the final whistle the Lurgan coaching staff sportingly praised the Loughgall performance saying that Lurgan did not deserve one point, let alone all three.

Squad: Daniel Acheson, Jack Hamilton, Ryan Faulkner (Capt), Scott McCann , Kyle Gilmore, Daniel Neill, Adam Alexander, James McCormack, Dale Mulligan, Jonathan Ewart, Luke Cartwright, James Orr, Jordan Finlay & William Graham.

Loughgall Youth Man of the Match: Scott McCann.

This was another early start for the boys and without manager Kyle Elder, Alan took reign. The team started off brightly with Angus Boyd making a few great bursts down the wing which troubled the Dromara defence. The game soon settled and neither team really tested the opposition keeper. Dromara took the lead after about twenty minutes when the Loughgall defence failed to pick up a burst of three Dromara attackers into the box and the striker headed home. Loughgall then started to create a few chances with Robbie holding the ball up well and linking with both wingers. Loughgall had a good chance to equalise when Scott Capper’s free kick blasted just over the crossbar on the stroke of half time.

The second half got underway and Loughgall started brightly and the game heated up with Robbie Wright picking up a booking. The decisive moment in the game was when John McConville seemed to be fouled but the referee waved play on Dromara got their second goal.  The Loughgall heads seemed to drop and tempers flared with Nathan Robinson picking up a booking for what seemed to be nothing only handbags after the Dromara attacker kicked out. Unfortunately the game finished when Dromara got a rare corner and it was headed into his own goal by Robbie. John McConville picked up a booking in the final few moments for a foul on the halfway line.

Both the management and team on the day felt this was a dropped three points on the day but welcomed Ethan Rusk back into the squad after a few weeks out with injury.

Squad: Matthew Lutton, Nathan Robinson, John McConville, Jordan Frizzell, Sam McAdam, Adam Farrell, Scott Capper, Mark Johnston, Angus Boyd, Robbie Wright, Josh Coleman, Owen Cairns, Tom Holland, John McWilliams.

Man of The Match went to Robbie Wright

Loughgall Youth

Loughgall Youth under 9′s had mixed fortunes on Saturday as they went down 3-0 against Lurgan Town and then won 2-0 against Tandragee.  The boys gave Lurgan as good as they got in the first half but similar to last week preventable mistakes, coupled with the heavy pitch cost the Youth dear. Misplaced passes, failure to close down shots and giving away unnecessary free kicks lead to their own downfall.  Best for the Youth against Lurgan were Ryan Scott and Josh Irwin.

In the second match against Tandragee the boys totally redeemed themselves with a gutsy performance. The guys tried their best to play football on a heavy pitch and also had to mix it with a strong, physical Tandragee team.  The goals were both scored in the first half by the Black twins, James and Alexander.  The Youth had chances in the second half to extend their lead with Chris Lindsay blazing one over the bar and bringing a great save from the Tandragee keeper.  Sam Cochrane came out of goals in the second half and struck the woodwork with a fine effort.  Alexander Black nearly added to his tally with a first time shot that just went past the post.  Nathan Stoops was unlucky not to connect with the ball at the back post from a corner to open his account for the season.  Yet again Nathan and Ryan were outstanding at the back and Josh Irwin was the engine in midfield.  All the boys played well in this match and they can all now go and enjoy their Christmas break and re-charge their batteries ready to resume action again on 28 Jan 2012.

Squad: Sam Cochrane, Nathan Stoops, Ryan Scott, Josh Irwin, James Black, Chris Lindsay, Alexander Black, Jordan Bentley.

Player of the day was Ryan Scott

The guys all pass on their best wishes to regular goalkeeper Sam Kerr who broke 2 fingers. Get well soon Sam and we all hope to see you back between the sticks again in the New Year.

At the halfway point of the season the stats for the Youth are as follows:
P26 W12 D3 L11.

Loughgall started brightly putting Glentoran under pressure but couldn’t create a clear cut chance.  Glentoran scored first against the run of play when the Loughgall defence let a high ball bounce in the box and Glentoran were quicker to the loose ball.  To their credit Loughgall responded positively and were soon back on level terms when a well worked corner resulted in Matthew Willis hitting the net from a tight angle.  Loughgall continued to push forward but were caught out on the counter attack when the Glentoran left winger got behind the Loughgall defence and fired in a powerful shot giving Loughgall’s keeper Joshua King little chance.

After the break Loughgall had two good chances to equalize but they found the Glens keeper in fine form saving good shots from Matthew Willis and Mattie McBurney and Jac McElveen.  Near the end of the game the Glens got their third goal after the Loughgall defence failed to clear the ball leaving a simple tap in for the Glens striker.

Silly mistakes are punished at this level of football and Loughgall learned this lesson.

Squad- Joshua King, Matthew Telford, Jason Dodds, Mark Palmer, Adam Robb, Adam Wright Sam McKew, Chris Hutchinson, Jac McElveen, Matthew Willis, Mattie McBurney, Harry Gilpin.

Players of the Day – Adam Robb and Chris Hutchinson