Lynn Hat-trick in Salou

Lynn Hat-trick as Moyola Park under 15’s win against FC Salou

Wednesday night saw Moyola under 15’s play FC Salou @ Futbol Salou in one of their friendly games and came out 4-2 winners.

Moyola went one nil down after only 4 minutes and they thought the writing was on the wall but the young lads bounced back with the home side finding R Lee’s pace  to much as he rounded two defenders and shot low under the FC Salou keeper to leave both teams going in one all at half time.

The Moyola lads came out the second half full of confidence with P Diamond and S McGrogan in full control in midfield it was R Lynn who chipped the keeper to make it 2 -1 from an McGrogan pass. R Lynn scored his second to make it 3-1 following a great run from R Lee who passed to the Moyola forward and he tapped the ball in from close range. 

Moyola’s forth goal came from a penalty when R Lee was brought down in the box and in great sportsmanship Lee handed the ball to Lynn who made no mistake by beating the home keeper for his hat-trick. A free kick on the 90^th minute saw a C McMullan shot from 25 yards come off the cross bar and the referee blew up for full time.

Moyola’s back line of captain O Lee, Milne, Clarke & Gilmore were in great form an McErlean in goals pulled off early saves with the midfield of  P Diamond, McGrogan F Diamond & McNicholl all in great form and Lee & Lynn causing the FC Salou defence all sorts of problems.  

Moyola Park manager Robin Martin made changes during the game with Henry, Palframan, McMullan, Young and Rafferty all coming on and we're it great form. The boys who have been training hard week in week out for this paid off with this great performance and some off the other coaches from around Europe who were there thought the lads played really well.

Moyola Park: McErlean, O Lee, Milne, Clarke, Gilmore, P Diamond, McGrogan F Diamond, McNicholl, R Lee, Lynn. Subs: Henry, Palframan, McMullan, Young, Rafferty.  

Maghera into Cup semi-final

Local soccer team Maghera Strollers booked their place in the semi-final of the Constitution Cup on Saturday with a comfortable 2-0 win over Riada. 

Caolan McGuckin broke the deadlock after 25 minutes when he volleyed home a Kevin Dunne cross from inside the box.

Ten minutes later the Strollers doubled their lead when a cross come shot from Kevin Dunne drifted over the Riada keeper and into the back of the net.

In the second half Riada pressed hard for a goal to get them back into the game but the Strollers defence held strong to record their first clean sheet since the turn of the year.

NIFL Championship 2 ... Moyola Park 2 Tobermore United 2

Moyola Park 2 - Scorers Dowie, Gray

Tobermore United 2 - Scorers P Keane, G Keane

Report from Moyola Park Website.

Moyola Park welcomed Tobermore United to the Mill Meadow on Saturday for a rearranged Championship 2 game. This was the first meeting of the teams this season and is always keenly contested in front of a large crowd.

The first chance of the game fell to the home side in the 2nd minute when McAuley and Dowie combined to find Gallagher however his shot was wide. With eight minutes on the clock a cross from McAuley found Taggart who shot over. 

A minute later at the other end a cross from Parkhill was cleared by Black and the ball came back into the box and McQuillan headed clear only for the referee to adjudge that he handled the ball and point to the penalty spot. Up stepped captain P Keane who calmly fired the ball past Maybin to give the visitors the lead against the run of play. 

In the 12th minute a Black corner was headed wide by McIlhatton and three minutes later Dowie closed down a McGraw clearance only to see the ball rebound of the Moyola striker and loop over the bar. In the 16th minute N Lamont headed wide from a free kick from Marks and in the 18th minute McAuley found Taggart and he headed the ball into the path of Dowie who shot over. 

Moyola had Gallagher booked in the 24th minute and five minutes later another good corner from Black was again wide by McIlhatton. In the 34th minute McAuley combined with Waddell on the right with a cross coming into the Tobermore area and Dowie turning and shooting at McGraw. In the 36th minute the referee booked Glasgow for the visitors. 

A minute later the home side were level when McIlhatton found Dowie who fired a shot into the corner, however McGraw should have done better with the effort. This was the last real chance of the first half and both teams went in 1-1 at half time.

The visitors made the first change of the game for the second half with G Keane replacing the injured N Lamont who got a knock just before half time and the captains arm band was passed to goal scorer P Keane. With five minutes gone in the second half the referee booked Harkness for a late challenge and with very few chances the next chance fell to the home side in the 60th minute with McAuley finding Dowie who shot wide. 

Moyola Park manager Mervyn Pattison made his first change of the game in the 62nd minute with the returning Gray replacing Black. A minute later a corner from Twist was knocked into the net from substitute G Keane from close range. The same player nearly scored again a minute later; however he failed to connect with a cross. 

The visitors made their second change with S Lamont replacing Glasgow. G Keane was in the thick of the action again in the 72nd minute when he headed wide from a Duffin cross and two minutes later Gray found McIlhatton at the other end and his shot was deflected wide for a corner. With fifteen minutes left, Duffin shot wide from inside the box and Moyola also made a change with McNamee replacing McAuley. 

The visitors made their final change in the 73rd minute with Curtis replacing Duffin and the home side got an equaliser in the last minute when a mistake in the Tobermore defence saw Gray fire the ball across McGraw and into the far corner to make the score even. The last action of the game saw the referee book Devine for the visitors.

This was a good game of which both teams would have been happy with a point as neither goal keeper had much to do during the 90 minutes.

Moyola Park: Maybin, Harris, McQuillan (c), Doey, Waddell, Black, Taggart, Dowie, Gallagher, McIlhatton, McAuley. Subs: Gray, Kelly, Kells, McNamee.

Tobermore United: McGraw, Harkness, Winton, P Keane, Marks, Glasgow, Duffin, Devine, N Lamont, Parkhill, Twist. Subs: Curtis, S Lamont, G Keane, Deane, McLarnon.

PHOTOS...

Strollers maintain top spot

Maghera Strollers maintained their place at the top of the league as they beat Coleraine Crusaders in a great battle at Meadowbank today.

The game was only 5 minutes old when the Strollers took the lead. Colm Sargent sent a long ball up to David Harrigan who nodded the ball down to Chrissy Dunne at the edge of box. He hit it first time, driving the ball past the keeper giving him no chance.

Crusaders scored an equaliser on 34 minutes with a great piece of play. However, barely a minute later the Strollers restored their lead. 

Mark Farren who was causing the Crusaders all sorts of problems got his head on a flick on to Caolan McGuckin who made no mistake when one on one with the keeper. 

In first half injury time David Harrigan made it 3-1 when he held off the Crues centre half before unleashing past the keeper. 

The Crues came out in the second half and from the start they piled on the pressure. Their persistence paid off on 55 minutes when they pulled it back to 3-2.

The Strollers struggled to create any chances and had to defend in numbers for the last 10 minutes but they held on to record a great victory.

Great team performance but today's man of the match was Niall McErlean.

Strollers into last eight

In local soccer Maghera Strollers have booked their place in the Quarter Finals of the Constitution Cup after beating Ringsend Swifts 2-1 in awful conditions in Limavady. The Strollers now play Riada in the next round.

It took until just before half time for the first goal.  Man of the match Sean McGrogan setting up David Harrigan who smashed to the net.

It got even better for Maghera but this time Harrigan was the provider.  This through ball setup Caolan McGuckin for a neat finish.

In the second half the Strollers should have killed the game off but missed two goal chances.  Ringsend scored a consolation goal with ten minutes to go and Maghera extended their cup run.