Page 53 - royal-times-16-17

U14 BOYS SOCCER

This year got off to a great start with a 4-1 win against
Collegiate school in Monaghan. The match was played in
Monaghan which only added to the atmosphere after the
match. Unfortunately we lost a couple of players between
this and the next match which was against Collegiate. This
hampered our chances as our keeper was missing with
other key players. The weather was against us with thick
fog playing a major part in the outcome. We were beaten
4-1 on the day but some medical issues also played a part
without our captain Tobi having some issues with asthma
due to the conditions. This knocked us out of the Cavan -
U16 Football team which started in 4-3 League win V St. Bricins Monaghan cup.
Royal 1 – 4 Virginia College. Unfortunately a league was not set up for this year and
The next league game was against a very strong Virginia we could only arrange some friendlies. The team showed
College side. The same squad took the field and competed remarkable enthusiasm and came out fighting against
really well for the vast majority of the game. Virginia scored Bawnboy. This was played on the Astro in Cavan town and
early on, but the Royal fought back to level the game was a very close match. The result went with Bawnboy in
through a cool Andrew McNally finish. It was all square a 3-2 defeat for the Royal. It was an extremely close match,
at half time, and the Royal School team coped well with the Royal started slowly and the 3 goals went in in the first
a Virginia onslaught until the resistance was broken 12 20 minutes. We got two back in the second half and came
minutes from time. This meant we had to come out and seek close to the draw with Joshua hitting the crossbar. Although
an equaliser and unfortunately leaked two further goals in we lost the match we gained some vital information about
the last 5 minutes to give a score line which hardly reflected
the tenacity and application of the boys on the day. our formation and how to continue without the players
we lost. Matthew Eguakun stepped up to the plate as our
Royal School Cavan: Michael McKeon Boyle, Michael goalkeeper and has made some really good improvements
James Metcalfe, Adam Dunne, Colin Dugdale, Craig Ebbitt, even though this was not his favourite position.
Joshua Ajayi, Mark Stewart, Aaron Heaslip, Dylan Nugent,
Kelvin McNally, Andrew McNally. Subs: Stuart Smyth, We are currently looking towards a few more games this
Christopher Elliott, Fredrick Elliot, Adam Pringle, Jamie year and hope that our hard work and dedication on the
Eccleston. training field pays dividends. The lads are a great group and
I can see bright futures for the team. We had some very
Royal 1- 2 Our lady’s SS Castleblaney (AET) good reviews from other schools with Bawnboy’s coach
2nd place in our league group meant we had to enter the
cup in the 1st round and were handed a tough draw away saying we had some excellent players. With some more
to Our Lady’s Secondary School, Castleblaney. We had practice and hard work hopefully the lads will bring home
a full squad to pick from for the first time this year with the silverware in the future.
captain Evan O’Connor fit again and Centre half Tim Palmer
available again. U14 Boys Soccer
On a tight pitch in Castleblaney we put in a really
good performance. We were well organised and
well in the game throughout. We had excellent
chances through Dylan Nugent & Joshua Ajayi to
take the lead.
5 minutes from the end we conceded but then
roared back into the game and were awarded a
last minute penalty which was coolly converted by
Evan O’Connor. This forced the game into extra time;
however we were undone by a powerful Castleblaney
header from a corner early in the 1st period.
We had a number of chances late on to equalise
again through Evan O’Connor, Tim Palmer and
Kelvin McNally but in the end we ran out of time
and exited the cup.
U16 Goal scorers 2016/17
Andrew McNally 2
Joshua Ajayi 2 Back Row (L-R): Nick Palmer, Ben Speares, Matthew Eguakun, James Moore,
Kelvin McNally 1 Jack Gilmore Middle Row (L-R): James Lynch, Eniola Faleti, Matthew Gilmore,
Evan O’Connor 1 Finn Munnelly, Owen Curry, Gabriel Asare Front Row (L-R): Mark Williamson,
Ewan Garland, Tobi Sonaike, Adam Mee, Joshua Ajayi
The Royal Times 2016-2017 53