Saturday past saw Dungannon United Youth Under 12’s play their 3rd game in the National League. After having lost last weeks  match to a very strong Larne side, the boys knew they had  to improve their standard of play whilst taking on Ballinamallard in this away match.

The Dungannon side still looked as if 2 or 3 of their players hadn’t shaken off the injuries received last week and the large travelling loyal supporters hoped that this would not affect the young side too badly.

The opening fifteen minutes saw both teams well matched, with chances for both sides.

At times we caught flashes of the free flowing football the DUY team played last year, but they still could not find a way passed the Ballinamallard defence. In fact it was the home team who opened the scoring when a good pass split the DUY defence, leaving the centre back and full back lost for pace as the Ballinamallard centre forward cooly slipped the ball passed DUY keeper Jordan Hazelton.

It was obvious half way through the first half that midfielder Shea Gordon was unable to run off a re-occuring thigh injury and changes would have to be made.

The second half started with Adam Willoughby coming on to replace Shea Gordon.

The Dungannon boys kept pushing forward for an equalizer which eventually came when centre back Naoise Martin came forward and headed the ball into the back of the net from an excellent corner delivery from Daniel Kerr. This gave the Dungannon lads the confidence to apply more pressure in hope of a winner. When the ball was hit into the goal area, right back Tomas Carney took his chance well and put the Dungannon boys into the lead.

Daniel Kerr could have increased the score line further only to see his superb 25 yard free kick rebound off the cross bar.

With their heads up, our under 12’s continued pushing forward and were causing the Ballinamallard defence all sorts of problems.

New signing, Caolan Corr, scored his first goal for the Dungannon side, extending their lead further.

A second substitution was made shortly after the third goal when Matthew O’Toole replaced an injured Connor Murtagh.

After the match, Manager Joe McAree said “I am pleased with the second half response my players gave after our half time talk. I feel we got our just rewards by winning 3 - 1. Naoise Martin and Dalaigh Jones were just outstanding today. You would be hard pushed to find more determined and harder working players anywhere. I am also impressed with the work rate of Caolan Corr, who played only his third match for Dungannon United Youth.”

Assistant Manager, Tony Courtney added “After a poor start and going a goal down, the boys battled hard to come back and grab victory with a determined second half performance. After the equalizer went in there was only going to be one winner as the team finally started to show signs of last years desire to win.”

Joe McAree awarded Man of the Match jointly to Dalaigh Jones and Naoise Martin as both boys played some outstanding football. Well done boys!

The Under 12’s next match is against Ards Youth at home next week.

The reality of the National League hit home to DUY under 12s this Sunday 13th September when they were beaten 5 - 1 at home by a very strong Larne Youth.

Even though Larne have not lost a match yet in the Nationals, the Dungannon boys put them under immediate pressure with attacks on their goal. A good move was made when Naoise Martin put Samuel Haugh through on the right wing. Taking on his man, Samuel crossed in a good ball into the box to be met by a Shea Gordon volley which unfortunately hit the bar. This gave the Dungannon lads more confidence and with another penetrating attack Shea Gordon opened the score. Dungannon maintained good play but Larne slowly started to slip into the game and an equalizer was ominous. Jordan Hazelton made a fantastic save to keep the opposition out, but shortly before half time the Larne team equalized.

No changes were made at half time and the second half started with Larne Youth making good runs through the midfield which put the Dungannon defence under pressure. Five minutes into the second half saw Larne take the lead and with key DUY players injured the Dungannon team started to struggle. During this time centre back Naoise Martin was badly hurt and was taken off for treatment. Shortly afterwards he returned to the field only to see his partner at the back Paul Donaghy taken off and replaced by Matthew O’Toole after he was injured also.  At this time Shea Gordon was substituted for Jason Stevenson and Paul Donnelly came off for Connor Murtagh. The Dungannon boys kept trying for the equalizer, but Larne had their tails up and were determined to push ahead for more goals. The Larne Youth’s third goal followed shortly against a much weakened DUY defence. Even though DUY were 3 goals to 1 down, the young Dungannon players kept pushing forward hoping for the goals that would allow them back into the match. With shots from Daniel Kerr and Connor Murtagh thwarted on the line, the game was slowly slipping away from them. With Dungannon pressing forward all the time Larne was given the opportunity to break away and score 2 goals against the run of play. The final score of 5 -1 did not reflect the amount of possession and pressure the Dungannon boys had.

The supporters were left wondering that with a fully fit Dungannon team what the final outcome would have been.

After the match, Manager Joe McAree stated that “lessons had been learnt. I should not have not have taken the game knowing that the majority of my players were jaded. It was too much to ask. It was my own fault.”

He then awarded Man of the Match to Naoise Martin for his guts and determination to continue playing the remainder of the match even though he was injured. Well done Naoise.

Next weeks match is away to Ballinamallard. Good luck boys!

Wednesday night saw the start of Dungannon United Youth Under 12’s season. This is their first season in the National League and from everybody involved with the club, we wish them all the best this year!

The Under 12’s took on Glenavon at home under extremely bad weather conditions which made the surface slippy under foot and hard to control the ball.

The match got off to a slow start with both teams trying to maintain possession and testing each others defences out.

The Dungannon boys had the better of this contest and came close on several ocassions to scoring their first goal of the National League campaign. Near misses for Daniel Kerr, Shea Gordon and Samuel Haugh saw the Glenavon side stay level midway through the first half, but with ten minutes remaining, Daniel Kerr scored a surperb goal from 20 yards out. This seemed to calm the Dungannon players down and they went in at half time with a one goal lead.

Manager Joe McAree made no substitutes at half time and the second half started as the first half finished with the Dungannon side on top. Even though they had 80% of the possession, both management and supporters knew another goal was needed to secure the three points. Ten minutes into the second half saw the introduction of Paul Donnelly for Gavin Corr in a centre forward position and it didnt take long for last seasons top goal scorer to get his name onto the goal sheet with a well placed shot into the bottom left corner of Glenavon’s net. Further substitutions were made when Adam Farrell and Jason Stevenson replaced Connor Murtagh and Caolon Corr.

The boys could have gone on to score a few more, but were content to beat a well improved Glenavon side by two goals.

Afterwards, Manager Joe McAree said that “it was great to be back for a new season, especially playing in the National League. It was nice to start with a win as we know that the league is going to be tougher this year. I have every faith in my players and felt that they produced a good account of themselves against Glenavon. There was some good football played and our boys showed their potential for the rest of the season.”

The Man of the Match was awarded to Daniel Kerr for his outstanding display in midfield. Other good performances were given by Paul Donaghy and Naoise Martin in the defence.

Well done lads!

The players for this match were: Jordan Hazelton, Naoise Martin, Dalaigh Jones, Paul Donaghy, Tomas Carney, Shea Gordon, Daniel Kerr, Connor Murtagh, Samuel Haugh, Caolon Corr, Gavin Corr. Subs were: Adam Farrell,  Matthew O’Toole, Paul Donnelly, Jason Stevenson and Jack Rainey.