The Academy Under 12s created their own little piece of history on Monday at a sun drenched Ballymena Showgrounds in becoming the first Glentoran team to successfully defend the NIBFA Cup. The young lads, sporting their new black away kit, were inspired to victory with 1st team boss Eddie Patterson looking on, and their first ever Irish Cup Final experience fresh in their minds from Saturday past.
The Final itself, contested by two of the countries strongest teams, proved to be a very tense affair with both Glentoran and Dungannon to their credit always trying to play football on the ground.
Ultimately though the desire to win and work rate shown by both sets of players in closing down their opponents resulted in them cancelling each other out, creating a largely scrappy game with chances limited.
The wee Glens shaded it on the day though striking the woodwork on no fewer than 3 occasions and seeing a Malachy Smith effort cleared off the line in the dying moments of normal time.
Dungannons chances were limited to speculative long range free kicks from star player Fergal McGarrity. They did however force 2 tremendous point blank saves from Glentoran goalkeeper Paul McLaughlin, a header in the first half, and a close range shot in the closing seconds of extra time which Paul managed to push onto the crossbar.
With the game ending in stalemate after extra time, it was to be decided by the dreaded process of penalty kicks.
The 5 brave souls stepping forward for the Glens in front of the large crowd on all sides of the ground were Lewis McGarvey, Ben Cushnie, Ethan Warnock, Barry Baggley and Matthew Strain.
First up was centre back Lewis McGarvey, and being our usual penalty kick taker proved a big advantage for him as he hammered the ball home with ease.
Dungannon levelled at 1-1, but there was no stopping Ben Cushnie’s thunderous strike right into the top corner to put the Glens back in front.
The Duns were not giving up that easily though and levelled matters again piling the pressure on Glens left back Ethan Warnock, but the classy defender made it look so easy and buried the ball into the roof of the net.
Despite Paul's best attempts, he couldn’t stop Dungannons next spot kick and on we went at 3 a piece, and this time it was down to young Under 11 player Barry Baggley to show the rest how it was done as he calmly planted his kick into the top corner also.
The big moment finally came, with Dungannons next kick narrowly missing by the post meaning that Matthew Strain could grab the headlines with our 5th penalty. As Matty approached the ball there was a deafening silence around the ground, and boy did he make us all sweat for it as he struck the ball off the inside of the left hand post and watched as it rolled agonisingly across the goal line to go in off the other post!!
And thus the wee 2001s were NI Champs for the 2nd year running, and now have an All-Ireland Cup Final to look forward to in August.
Having defeated the old enemy Linfield 2-0 last Wednesday night, the league race rumbles on for them also with 2 games left to play. Watch this space.
A word must also go to our young Under 11s who unfortunately tasted the opposite outcome of a Penalty Kick scenario, losing out to Ballymena United despite having played the best football throughout the game and missing several glorious chances in extra time. It just wasn’t to be for the younger boys on the day, but having knocked out Linfield, Dungannon and Ridgeway Rovers in earlier rounds the boys have more than earned their place as one of the top sides in the country.
U11 Squad: Ewan Smyth, Matthew Wallace, Ben Buchanan-Rolleston, Charlie Anderson, Finlay Moore, Billy Cassells, Barry Baggley, Donal Cullen, Owen Phillips, Corai Quinn, Ruari Gallagher, Cian Gantley, Blake Bickerstaff, Tim Millar-Wilson, Sam Gillen, Curtis Giltrap, Cole Bradford
U12 Squad: Paul McLaughlin, Dylan Bell, Cameron Beacom-Hurle, Lewis McGarvey, Myles Murray, Ethan Warnock, David Sloan, Keelan Quigley, Barry Baggley, Malachy Smith, Eoin Brown, Sean Gallagher, Matthew Strain, Ben Cushnie, Curtis Farrell, Ben Buchanan-Rolleston
The Glentoran Academy would like to thank the efforts of Glentoran Board of Directors Grahame Jenkins, Bill Manson and Stephen Henderson for opening up The Oval yesterday morning at the crack of dawn on a bank holiday and providing us with a free breakfast and helped with paying our travel expenses. Also, all the parents and Glentoran fans who attended the games and who have provided us with support throughout the season. Finally to Eddie Patterson and Paul Trainor for attending both U11 and U12 games, your support was fantastic and a massive boost for the all the boys.