The U12 Team were the second team to play on this memorable day. After Karle Farquar’s U15’s set the precedence by beating Ballywalter, Joe and Tony’s young squad knew that nothing but a win would be good enough.

Right from the start the pressure was on them as Glendowan had nothing to lose where the Dungannon team were there to attempt back to back Northern Ireland Cup wins.

Glendowan soon began to pile on the pressure, sometimes with a display of good football, but mostly with a very physical approach which seemed to unsettle the DUY boys. Although Glendowan had much of the play in the first half, the Dungannon defence dealt with them adequately, standing firm and soaking up any attacks from the opposition.

In midfield, Shea Gordon began to play with the skill and flair he is renowned for, with some lightening runs into the Glendowan half, which caused the oppositions midfield and defence severe problems which they could only deal with by fouling the young midfield player and giving Dungannon the chance to put the Belfast team under pressure.

Half time came with the teams level at 0 – 0 and the large crowd of travelling supporters knew that Joe and Tony would have to give a half time team talk that would inspire the DUY boys if they were to bring the cup home for a second time.

No sooner had the second half began that it became glaringly obvious that the talk had worked as the Dungannon lads started to play the type of football which they are capable of. With Paul Donnelly causing a lot of trouble in the oppositions defence, the game became more open for the Dungannon boys. With their confidence high, their captain Dalaigh Jones hit a 30 yard shot which lobbed the Glendowan ‘keeper, which has to be considered as one of the goals of the season. This goal was the catalyst the DUY U12’s needed as they then started to apply endless amount of pressure on the Belfast side. During this period of play, Dungannon would have had two more goals, only for some controversial decisions made by the referee, but nothing could be done to disallow the goal when Gordon darted through the Glendown defence before laying off the ball to Donnelly on the right side of the penalty area who struck the ball hard and low into the oppositions goal giving the ‘keeper absolutely no chance of saving it.

With ten minutes left of the match, the DUY fans knew that a second Northern Ireland Cup would be travelling up the motorway to Dungannon. To be fair to the Glendowan side, they were not prepared to give up easily and still pushed on trying to break the Dungannon defence which Jones, Tomas Carney, Naoise Martin and Paul Donaghy dealt with easily enough which resulted in frustrating the Glendowan team further.

With minutes left the physical side of Glendowan became more apparent with constant fouls on DUY’s number 10, Ethan Burns who stood strong throughout the game and absorbed all they had to throw at him.

The final whistle blew to the delight of all the Dungannon players, Managers and loyal supporters with a score line of 2 – 0 in DUY U12’s favour.

Assistant Manager, Tony Courtney said “A great result. Glendowan were very physical and tried to bully us, but our boys kept their heads and scored two brilliant goals. Shea Gordon was a joy to watch in midfield and Paul Donaghy and Naoise Martin were in complete control at the back.”

Man of the match was awarded to Gordon for his tireless effort and fantastic runs throughout the 60 minutes. Congratulations Shea!

Congratulations to all the players who represented Dungannon United Youth U12’s in this Northern Ireland Cup campaign:

Tom McDermott, Dalaigh Jones, Tomas Carney, Paul Donaghy, Naoise Martin, Shea Gordon, Samuel Haugh, Daniel Kerr, Gavin Corr, Ethan Burns, Connor Murtagh, Paul Donnelly, Jordan Hazelton, Aaron McCammon and Deane Kane.

DUY blues beat Ballinamallard

Dungannon United Youth U12’s played host to Ballinamallard last Tuesday evening at home in the Junior Stadium. Every game counts as now Dungannon are trying to maintain their winning ways and stay at the top of the National League Table in their first season playing in it.

Nerves played a very large part of this match as the Dungannon boys took a while to settle in and play a good standard of football. Silly mistakes and luck for the opposition saw Dungannon 2 – 0 down at half time and the supporters prayed for a turn around so that we could retain our lead on Linfield by 2 points at the top.

Within a few minutes of the second half starting DUY’s number 10 Paul Donnelly was blessed with a shot on goal that restarted the game for the Dungannon side, giving them a fighting chance to come away from this match with something. Right wing, Deane Kane gave Dungannon the equalizer with 15 minutes of the match remaining which gave the boys the boost they needed to play their style of football and not allow Ballinamallard dictate the game. Daniel Kerr answered any doubt of Dungannon’s fighting spirit when he beat the Ballinamallard ‘keeper with a fine penalty shot that resulted in the final score being 3 – 2, keeping the DUY U12’s at the top of the table!

Manager Joe McAree said “In a really exciting game, Ballinamallard asked us a few questions, but we answered them with a powerful second half performance. Man of the match was Dalaigh Jones”

DUY get the Blues…

It’s amazing what a difference five days and a less experienced referee makes to the game of football. Sunday saw the Dungannon United Youth U12 National League team meet Linfield at home at the Junior Stadium. On the previous two meetings Dungannon had come out the victors with their Northern Ireland Cup medals and a much needed 3 points in the National League. This game promised to be big, with only 2 points separating the top two teams in the final run of the National League season.

Dungannon had to take these three points to secure their lead and to make the gap bigger between them and 2^nd place and although the first half resulted in no goals, the large crowd of Dungannon supporters knew that there was a goal in the Dungannon boys to put them ahead. DUY were certainly playing the better standard of football. Samuel Haugh was denied a penalty when he was brought down blatantly in the opposition’s box to the utter dismay of the Dungannon supporters, managers and players.

Dalaigh Jones broke the deadlock shortly into the second half when he doggedly pushed onto create chaos in the Linfield goal mouth and was awarded for his persistence with a goal. Celebrations were short lived when ten minutes later the referee awarded Linfield a free kick just outside the penalty box and a shot on goal was unable to be saved by DUY keeper Tom McDermott. The Dungannon boys dug in deep and had numerous attempts on goal saved by the Linfield keeper, who without a doubt, kept Linfield’s chances alive throughout the second half.

With 6 minutes remaining a Linfield player chipped the Dungannon keeper from an offside position and this goal stood according to the referee even with the Linfield linesman holding his flag in the air for offside. It was obvious to all the supporters watching that the referee’s decision was wrong and unfortunately his error has probably lost the DUY U12s  the National League which is a bitter pill to swallow after all their hard work, drive and determination.

Manager Joe McAree said “It was disappointing to lose the game as I felt we were the better team. The Linfield keeper made some excellent saves whilst ours had very little to do. I think most people would agree their equaliser was a cross that looped into the top corner of the goal and as for the winning goal, well only the referee knows why he allowed it, as in the words of the Linfield official – It looked well offside.”

Man of the match Dalaigh Jones.

Stangmore Park played host to the NI Cup match between DUY U12 National League Team and Newry City U12’s last Monday evening. The prize was a place in the semi final to meet Linfield.

Dungannon never really featured in the first half of this match, mistiming passes and allowing Newry to control the run of play. The home side were unable to put their foot on the ball and control the game and play was scrappy with Newry able to capitalise on this when mid way through the first half they scored against DUY.

Half time: Dungannon United Youth 0 – 1 Newry City

Manager Joe McAree’s half time talk worked wonders as the second half saw far better football from the blue and yellows. Their usual grit and determination started to show through as they improved their passing of the ball and took control. They were rewarded for their efforts when Shea Gordon made a run from midfield and equalled the scoring shortly into the second half. Aaron McCammon wasn’t long to add his name to the score sheet when he beat the Newry ‘keeper to put the DUY boy’s in the lead. Samuel Haugh brought the score to 3 – 1 when he whipped through the Newry defence and hit the ball into the back of the net. With five minutes remaining of normal time, Newry were awarded a dubious penalty. Dungannon ‘keeper Gavin Corr managed to get his fingertips to the ball, but was unable to push it past the post.

Full time score: Dungannon United Youth 3 – 2 Newry City

Man of the match was awarded to Dalaigh Jones. Congratulations Dalaigh!

Manager Joe McAree said after the match that “We struggled throughout and looked jaded and off the pace. Having said that we still deserved to win and look forward to meeting Linfield.”

Assistant Manager Tony Courtney echoed Joe’s sentiments by saying “We didn’t play well and could have been 2 down at half time, but we fought back and can now look forward to a semi final against Linfield”

DUY meet Linfield in the next round of the Northern Ireland Cup, who they defeated in last years final to be crowned NI Cup Winners 2009. The winner of this match will take their place in the final on the 29^th May!