Northern Ireland Cup Match - Dungannon United Youth vs Templepatrick Alexandra 14/02/09

It’s been a long time coming, but finally Dungannon United Youth Under 11’s made the journey up the motorway to meet Templepatrick Alexandra in the 2nd round of the Northern Ireland Cup.

The pitch conditions were heavy to say the least and that made it a very difficult surface to play free flowing football on, but Dungannon managed to maintain a large amount of possession putting Templepatrick under pressure from the first kick of the ball.

Templepatrick defended very well in the first half. Dungannon however managed to come off at the half time whistle with a slender 2 goal lead thanks to Daniel Kerr’s fantastic finishing on both ocassions. Although this scoreline wasnt representative of the amount of possession our team had.

The DUY under 11’s came out fighting in the second half (must have been some team talk Tony & Steven!!!) with Daniel Kerr completing his hat trick. Further goals were scored by Paul Donnelly, who also scored a hat trick, Shea Gordan with 2 and singular goals from both Jordan Hazelton and Adam Patterson.

Dungannon United Youth’s superior fitness and skill showed in the second half and the limited attacks made were soon dealt with by the teams solid defence.

Man of the Match was a hard decision for Tony Courtney to make as he stated both Shea Gordan and Naoise Martin played some excellent football but due to the quality of his goals it had to go to Daniel Kerr today.

In the absence of Manager Joe McAree, Tony Courtney did a fantastic job, assisted ably by Steven Patterson.

Many thanks goes to Templepatrick Alexandra for their hospitality after the game. Refreshments were laid on for the team, management and travelling supporters.

Keep up the good work boys and continue this work rate and good play throughout both the league and the cup!!

Dankas