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!