East Antrim Battalion Junior 5 A Side Competition

The final of the three 5 A Side competitions was held last Saturday at Larne Leisure Centre when the juniors got their opportunity to show off their skills.  Eleven teams entered and took part in what was an excellent competition.

Group A contained 1^st Ballyclare, 2^nd Carrick, 5^th Carrick and 7^th Carrick.  This was a keenly contested group, with a number of close fought matches.  1^st Ballyclare scored 9 goals in this group, conceding none and deservedly went through as group winners.  2^nd Carrick will feel hard done by that they came up against such a good Ballyclare side as, in any of the other groups, they will feel they could have gone through. 

Group B contained 1^st Raloo, 1^st Greenisland, 3^rd Carrick and 1^st Ballyeaston.  This was an extremely close group, with Greenisland and 3^rd Carrick vying for the top spot and place in semi finals.  As 1^st Greenisland and 3^rd Carrick drew their top of the table duel 2-2, Greenisland having given away a 2-0 lead, the group came down to goal difference.  A three goal win for 3^rd Carrick in their final match against Raloo would have taken them through.  Anything less knocked them out.  The match finished 2-1 to 3^rd Carrick, unfortunately not enough for them so an ecstatic Greenisland progressed.

Group C contained only three sides, 1^st Whitehead, 1^st Larne and 1^st Ballynure.  Again, goal difference was required as both Whitehead and Larne beat Ballynure and drew their group decider.  Luckily for Whitehead, they beat Ballynure by more goals so they progressed to the semi finals.

The semi finals took a new format this year with the three group winners going into a mini group, all teams playing each other and the top team named the winners.  1^st Ballyclare opened up this series with a match against 1^st Whitehead.  This was a close fought encounter, both teams realising the importance of the result.  Late in the game, Ballyclare got the killer goal.  Alistair Bell again was the man, he had already scored 5 in the group series, scoring a low drive into the corner.  Whitehead had little time to respond and lost the match 1-0.

The second match was 1^st Whitehead against 1^st Greenisland.  Both these sides had come through their group on goal difference and the match was fairly even in the early stages.  As the game wore on, the greater physical presence of Whitehead shone through and they eventually took the three points.  This put them level with 1^st Ballyclare and meant a win for 1^st Ballyclare in their final game would give them the shield.  A win for 1^st Greenisland would throw it all wide open again.

Greenisland were a very youthful side, with all their players still being in first year.  They started well in the final match and took a 1-0 lead early on.  This gave them a much-needed boost but caused Ballyclare to step up a gear and four goals from the player of the competition, Alistair Bell, sealed a comprehensive victory.  That gave Alistair 10 goals in the competition, surely a new record and if not, it is still a remarkable achievement.

The result meant 1^st Ballyclare were the overall winners, with 1^st Whitehead in second place and 1^st Greenisland in third place.  All three sides had a number of fine young players and shows there is still plenty of talent in the East Antrim area.  Well done to all the boys who, as always, represented their company with distinction.