Loughgall made the unbeaten league leaders Distillery work hard on Saturday with another very encouraging performance by the villagers.  In the first half play was fairly even, Distillery forced a few chances just before the break but Loughgall too had their chances with John McWilliams giving Distillery a few things to think a bout.  Overall the boys put in a hard shift and put Distillery under pressure when they were on the ball, forcing mistakes.  At the break it was 0-0 and very even.

At the start of the second half Angus Boyd tested the Distillery keeper with a good effort, but this was well held by the keeper.  Distillery put us under a bit of pressure then for a short period but Jordan Frizzell and Mark Johnston were equal to this and the boys tried playing our way out from the back.  The story of our day seemed to be that during our attacks the ball didn’t just fall to our man at the crucial moment.  With ten minutes to go Distillery hit us on the counter and although Matthew Lutton saved the initial strike, another attacker was able to tap in from a few yards out.

We gained a free kick with 3 minutes to go and I committed numbers to the attack, but when this broke down, Distillery again hit us on the counter and scored.  Unfortunately for the first time all day we were no focused and from the centre and gifted Distillery a third goal – albeit through a fine strike.

We had a disappointed changing room after the match, our effort was first class but the key difference was they took their chances while we didn’t take ours.  We need to take the many positives from this game and learn our lessons.  The boys now appear to have the component that has been missing all season – belief in themselves.  We now need another big shift next week against Donegal Celtic.

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

Man of the Match: Mark Johnston.

Loughgall’s run of form continued, despite a few changes of personnel and tactics, caused through suspensions, with a much deserved point against Ballymena United.

Ballymena put Loughgall under some early pressure as the side seemed to take a few minutes to come to grips with the changes, but it was Loughgall who had the first chance of the game with a long range Ethan Rusk strike just going over the crossbar.  Soon after some individual errors allowed Ballymena a goal mouth scramble but Loughgall eventually cleared the danger and again Ballymena came close with a long range effort hitting the post.

After a chance to regroup at the break Loughgall went out with much more confidence in the second half and created two of the better chances with both John McWilliams and Ethan Rusk presented good chances to score.  The blues tried playing their football and played some good stuff in the second half trying to keep possession and attack.  The defence held a good line and ensured that when Ballymena put the ball in the net, that they were offside, excellent positional play by the back four.

The game then became end to end with both teams hitting each other with wave after wave of attack, but both teams failed to capitalise.  Ballymena received a free kick on the edge of the box with seconds remaining but hit the top of the cross bar, which effectively finished the game.

Overall a draw is a fair result, both teams had chances, and we were treated to an exciting match even if there were no goals.  It is good to see the belief the boys have at present and we must continue with this belief in upcoming matches.  We had our game plan, stuck to it and gave the match a good go!

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

Man of the Match: Ethan Rusk.

Loughgall returned to action in the New Year against Shankill Juniors and a controversial decision cost the blues the win, just as it looked safe.

The first half was relatively scrappy with neither side playing fluent football.  Shankill forced some excellent saves from Matthew Lutton in the Loughgall goal but often these had been confined to long range efforts.  Mid way through the first half an excellent through ball from Ethan Rusk was met by Robbie Wright who coolly dinked the ball over the helpless Shankill keeper.

In the second half Loughgall soaked up the Shankill pressure and Scott Capper, Ethan Rusk and Mark Johnston kept Angus Boyd and Adam Farrell busy on the wings.  Following a Shankill player going down in the box Shankill received a penalty and the ball just crept under Matthew Lutton’s body.  Despite this the blues pushed on and following a save from his first effort, Adam Farrell made no mistake from the second and made it 2-1.  Shortly after John McWilliams didn’t give up on what looked a lost cause and scored with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Loughgall now were playing excellent football, however the game changed following a very high and very late tackle on the Loughgall centre back, following retaliation the Loughgall received a red card and to the bemusement of coaching staff Shankill were awarded a free kick which they scored from.  Shankill then scored from a dubious corner and the game finished 3-3.

Boys performed well but one of those days…

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

Man of the Match: Jordan Frizzell.

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.

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

Following a determined performance the previous week, the management expected the same this week, as the boys were very unfortunate to not get as much as a point last week.  However Loughgall were very disappointing, allowing Ridgeway long spells of possession and showing little fight against a physical Ridgeway side.  The first goal was conceded from a corner, Loughgall were desperately slow to react to a ball in the box and were then forced to pick it out of the net.  Ridgeway scored mid way through the half to double their advantage.

In the second half the blues started playing better football, but twice the defence was caught napping and we fell to a four nil deficit.  Loughgall finally realised they needed to waken themselves and pulled a goal back after a Scott Capper freekick was deflected past the ridgeway goal keeper and John McConville scored from another perfect corner from Scott Capper.  To blame the wind is pointless as we didn’t show up and we got exactly what we deserved.

Another frustrating game, the U14s are very capable in this league but the hot and cold form must stop!

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

Man of the match: Mark Johnston and Matthew Lutton

Loughgall reacted to last Saturday’s game with a good performance agsinst a string Glentoran team, but fell to a 1-0 defeat in the last 10 minutes.  Loughgall started the game a little nervously, but as the game progressed the team grew in confidence, and set up a few attacks through Robbie Wright and Josh Coleman, however a reluctance to shoot gave Glentoran the time they needed to recover.  In the first half Matthew Lutton was rarely troubled, however dominant goal keeping ensured he took the pressure of the defence in numerous occasions.  Overall the first half was tight with no clear chances for either side and more of what is expected from this Loughgall side.

In the second half the pace of the game increased further and was end to end at times.  Loughgall battled well all over the park, Mark Johnston broke up the Glentoran play on numerous occasions and John McConville and Jordan Frizzell led the defence a lot better and ensured Lutton wasn’t kept busy.  Angus Boyd got through on goal following a defensive mistake from the Glen, but his shot just went wide.  With 10 mins to go, for the first time, the Glens striker caught a defender out went through one on one and gave Lutton no chance.  Loughgall got over the disappointment and got on with the football, Glentoran were rattled but a late Mark Johnston effort just went over the bar, or was it through a hole in the net?!

Much improved performance and we need to move on and further relax in games and play the football we are capable of.

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

Man of the match: hard to choose, Mark Johnston, Nathan Robinson, Matthew Lutton and Robbie Wright all had very good games.