First Ballyclare went to Larne Leisure Centre at the weekend hoping to match the fantastic achievement of last year in lifting the annual East Antrim Battalion Intermediate 5 A Side Competition. Having only lost David Thompson from the winning side off last year, hopes were high of a repeat success.

The competition was split into 3 groups, with the three group winners progressing along with the best overall runner up. First Ballyclare were paired with 1st Larne, who beat the senior side in the final last week and who the intermediate side beat in the final last year, 1st Ballyeaston and 2nd Carrick B.

First match for Ballyclare was against 2nd Carrick B. This proved a comfortable affair with Ballyclare hammering four with no reply. Ali Bell, the star of the show last year, got a hat trick, with Robert Gould getting the other.

Second match was much more competitive and went against First Ballyclare. Lee Millar for 1st Larne was a constant menace and scored two. Ali had equalised in between the two goals but poor defence meant 1st Ballyclare would have to rely on a runners up spot.

Going into their final group game, Ballyclare knew a 2 goal win would be enough to guarantee the best runners up spot. The match was against local rivals, 1st Ballyeaston, who performed so well last week in making the semi finals. William Stevenson, a Ballyeaston old boy, scored two for Ballyclare, with prolific scorer Ali Bell scoring the other. This result saw Ballyclare into the semi final as best runners up. Unfortunately, it meant Ballyeaston were knocked out, with one win and two defeats.

Ballyclare going into the semi final as best runners up also knocked another local side out, 1st Ballylinney. They were also vying for the best runners up spot and with 6 points and a +4 goal difference, they would have felt they had a chance before Ballyclare's final game. Luckily for Ballyclare and unfortunately for Ballylinney, they had not done enough, although they did perform really well in what was a tough group, beating 7th Carrick and 3 rd Larne convincingly, but losing to eventual finalists 1st Whitehead.

In the semi finals, 1st Larne played 1st Whitehead in the first game and the sheer will to win of the Whitehead boys was not matched by the more physical Larne side and Whitehead deservedly went through.via a 1-0 scoreline.

The other semi was a non contest, with 8th Carrick comfortably progressing at the expense of 1st Ballyclare. The 3-0 scoreline was a fair reflection of the game, with Ali Bell effectively marked out of the game and Robert Gould, a supremely talented player, not on top of his game. Peter Griffith at full back had a good game but was helpless to the bombardment down his right hand side, the 8th Carrick left, from both Stephen Silverson and Ashton McDermott, two fantastic players who really dominated the competition all afternoon.

The final was a good game, with Whitehead giving 8th Carrick a better match than Ballyclare were able to do but the best team all afternoon came out on top and 8th Carrick deservedly won the trophy, by a 3-1 margin.

A note of thanks must be passed on to Mrs Hilary Montgomery, who happily agreed to keeping a note of the scores all afternoon, enabling the officers in charge of the various teams to concentrate on that job. Also, as always Michael Crooks and Donald Blair refereed with imperious efficiency and more than contributed to what was an excellent afternoons football.