The second of the three 5 A Side competitions in January for East Antrim Battalion Boys Brigade resulted in another hard fought battle between some of the strongest companies in the area.

Eight teams in total turned up on the day, down on previous years, but this did not prevent the competitiveness amongst the companies from coming to the fore.  The competition was split into two groups of four, with group A clearly the stronger of the two groups.  Group A consisted of 1^st Ballyclare, 1^st Greenisland, 1^st Whitehead and 1^st Larne.  Group B contained 4^th Carrickfergus, 1^st Raloo, 1^st Ballyeaston and 5^th Carrickfergus.

Group A began with 1^st Ballyclare against 1^st Whitehead and produced an excellent match.  Ballyclare dominated but Whitehead’s goalkeeper on the day was excellent and really kept his team in the game with some stunning saves, including one from the penalty spot.  This performance surely puts him in the frame for the junior battalion team, with the two coaches from that team present on the day.  Ballyclare did eventually get their goal through their captain David Thompson, who arguably was the player of the tournament. 

Group A continued with Larne beating Greenisland 3-1 and Whitehead falling to a 2-1 defeat against Greenisland.  The big match in the group then took place when the two most impressive teams so far, 1^st Larne and 1^st Ballyclare met in the group decider.  Ballyclare were to triumph with a fine tactical display, containing the excellent Ryan Garrett and striking on the counter attack to secure a 2-0 victory (Ali Bell and Chris Horner the scorers).  This virtually secured Ballyclare’s place in the semi finals as group winners, with second place a straight fight between Larne and Greenisland. 

Greenisland had the chance to put the pressure on when they played 1^st Ballyclare in their final group match.  Unfortunately for them, they failed to break down the excellent Ballyclare rearguard and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.  This left them on 4 points, meaning Larne only had to avoid defeat to progress.  This they did fairly comfortably, producing an excellent performance (Ryan Garrett again was stunning with his electric pace), and a well deserved win. 

Group B was somewhat of a mis-match with 4^th Carrickfergus clearly stronger than any of their rivals and comfortably topping their group with three victories.  Paul Stewart was again excellent, as he was last week in the seniors, with Michael Rodgers also impressing.  5^th Carrick went through in second place with two victories.  The other two teams in this group were 1^st Raloo and 1^st Ballyeaston, with Raloo coming out top in their battle to avoid the wooden spoon.  Raloo put out a very young side on the day and look to have potential to be a good side in the future. 

These results produced semi finals of 4^th Carrickfergus against 1^st Larne and 1^st Ballyclare against 5^th Carrick.  Most observers acknowledged that the final would most likely be between the two teams who qualified from Group A and, in the end, this was to be the case, but not without a fight! 

Semi final 1 was a great tussle between Larne and 4^th Carrick and resulted in a 2-1 win for Larne.  Having taken the lead, Larne were playing very well but Carrick hit back with an equaliser to set up a tense finale.  The game could have went either way at this stage but Larne gradually moved up the gears and scored just before the end.

The other semi was Ballyclare against 5^th Carrick, a re-run of last years junior final when 5^th Carrick stole victory.  It was not to be the case this year with Ballyclare gaining revenge and coming from a goal behind to win 3-1.  5^th Carrick scored early on when Ballyclare’s defence stood of the 5^th Carrick danger man and allowed him to score the only goal put past the Ballyclare keeper in the entire tournament.  Ballyclare did not panic and equalised with a fortuitous strike from Chris Horner, the ball having come back off the crossbar initially.  An excellent long range shot from Robert Gould put Ballyclare in the lead and Ali Bell completed the victory with a powerful left foot strike.

Clearly the two best sides on the day had made the final and what a titanic confrontation this proved to be.  Ballyclare again chose to mark Ryan Garrett for Larne out of the game and play on the counter attack.  This worked well but for long periods of the game Larne dominated and looked threatening.  Some excellent saves by Matthew Luney in the Ballyclare goal kept his team in the game and provided the platform for a late attack.  Ballyclare swapped Adam Sands for Chris Horner and this enabled them to be more effective going forward.  This provided a result when Horner squared the ball to Ali Bell who drilled the ball into the bottom corner, much to the delight of the large Ballyclare following.  The match finished 1-0 to 1^st Ballyclare and gave them their first ever triumph in the intermediate 5 A Sides.

The competition was played in an excellent spirit, with Donald Blair and Michael Crooks imperious in their handling of the matches.  Many thanks to them for fulfilling this role and also to Gregory from 1^st Larne for once again compiling all the results and keeping the event moving.