County Down sides preparing for tournament

County Down sides preparing for tournament

4 July 2018

WITH the start of the SuperCupNI approaching on July 22, both County Down teams faced some competitive action at the weekend as the county hosted their annual tournaments at Crossgar playing fields.

The weekend of football would deliver some very encouraging results too as both the junior and premier sides won their respective tournaments to give timely morale boost to the newly assembled squads.

First up came the junior competition on the Saturday when counties Down, Armagh and Tyrone, along with Ards 2002s competed for the Nevin Spence Cup, named in memory of the former Down player and latterly Ulster Rugby star.

The Down boys met Ards in their first game and goals from Ben Hollinger, Lewis Davidson, Matty Lusty and Reece Doyle gave the team a 4-2 win.

Over on pitch two the derby battle between Tyrone and Armagh required penalty kicks to separate the teams after a 0-0 draw and it would be Armagh booking a spot in the final with a 7-6 spot kick victory.

That result set up another all-county meeting in the decider and goals from Lusty and Jonah Heron put Down 2-0 up. Armagh hit back with a converted penalty kick, but failed to find a second goal, allowing Down to hold on and capture the trophy.

Sunday morning saw the staging of the Mourne Cup for teams in the premier age bracket and as the good weather continued, Armagh, Glentoran and Glenavon were the visitors.

In the opening game Down defeated Armagh 2-1, thanks to goals from Adam Carroll and Callum Ferris, while on the other pitch, Glenavon edged out Glentoran 3-2.

The final encounter between Down and Glenavon was a tight affair with Glenavon twice taking the lead only for the game to finish level at 2-2. The first ten kicks of the ensuring shoot-out couldn’t separate the teams, but sudden death would as Glenavon missed their sixth kick, allowing Jack Conlon to step up and seal the win for Down.

Training will continue for the Down squads over the next three weeks or so, prior to their arrival in Coleraine for the opening parade on July 22.

The boys will then face five matches in five days in the hope of emulating the success of County Antrim’s senior team from last year, who won the competition. The junior team open their quest against Charlton Athletic, while the Premier side play Newcastle United in game one.