Local football round-up

Rangers and Braga draw

Lisburn Rangers Youth and TW Braga Youth fought out a 2-2 draw in the under-13 section of the Lisburn Junior Invitational League in one of only two games to survive the snow and frost.

Curtis Gillespie gave Rangers a deserved half-time lead but Braga hit back with a Dean Shaw penalty and a second goal from Blake Bickerstaff.

Thomas Burns stepped up with the equaliser four minutes from time and Rangers hit the post with two minutes left, but a draw was fair enough.

In the only other game played, also at Orangefield, Knockbreda Youth beat Bloomfield Youth 3-1 in the under-17s.

Tim Wareing, who spent six years under Paul Kirk at Lisburn Rangers met up again with his mentor at the match and gave a run-down on what TW Braga are all about.

The TW represents Tim Wareing and Braga are linked with Portuguese professional side, SC Braga.

Some facts about a few of Tim’s players: Dean Shaw (10) spent three days over Hallowe’n training with West Brom Academy and Paul Scullion (10) has scored 21 goals to date this season. He will train with Eindhoven in March.

Hassan Ayari (9) signed from New York and stays with a host family in Bangor and attends school in Holywood

Fixtures

GLENMORE: 9.30, Ballymena v Carrick u13, Hillsborough v Ballyclare u15; 11.15, Downpatrick v Ox Sunnyside Colts u14, Lisburn Rgs v Downpatrick u16.

BARBOUR: 9.30, Hillsborough v Greenisland u13, Lurgan v Ridgeway u16, Hillsborough v Carrick u17; 11.15, Lisburn Dist v Windmilol u14, Banbridge v Hillsborough u16, Newry v N. Belfast u16.

MOIRA: 9.30, Lisburn Dist v Windmill u13, Lurgan v Ox Sunnyside u14; 11.15, Chimney Corner v Lisburn Y u13, Hillsborough v Armagh u14.

WALLACE PARK: 9.30, N. End v TTBS u13, N. End v Ox Sunnyside u15, Midway v N. End u16; 11.15, Lisburn Rgs v Willowbank u13, Willowbank v Lisburn Y u16, Dromara v Willowbank u17.

LURGAN: 9.30, Lurgan v TW Braga u13.

BALLYMACOSS: 9.30, Lisburn Y v Shankill u14, Lisburn Y v Donegal Celtic u15, Newry v Carrick u15; 11.15, Lisburn Dist v Greenisland u16, Knockbreda v Camlough u17, Lower Maze v Banbridge u17.

HAVELOCK PARK: 9.30, Lurgan v Newry u17; 11.15, Warrenpoint v Portadown u14.

ORANGEFIELD: 9.00, Lisburn Dist v Bloomfield u17; 11.00, Lisburn Dist v Greenisland u15.

NINE-A-SIDES, RECREATION CENTRE

UNDER-11 LEAGUE 1: 1A: 9.00, Lurgan v Dungoyne; 10.00, Ox Springfield Star v Ridgeway; 11.00, Windmill v Glenavon; 12.00, Carryduff v Lisburn Dist; 1B, 9.00, Lisburn Ladies v Greenisland Colts; 10.00, Greenisland v Ballymoney; 11.00, Hillsborough v Warrenpoint;12.00, Lisburn Y v Ox Sunnyside.

LEAGUE 2: 2A: 9.00 Ardoyne v Castle Jun; 10.00 Linfield v Oliver Plunkett; 11.00, Antrim v Carniny; 12.00, Portadown v Loughgall; 2B: 9.00, Ardoyne v Newhill; 10.00 TW Braga v Larne; 12.00, Annalong v Hillsborough Colts

UNDER-12 LEAGUE 1: 3A, 12.00, Ridgeway v Lisburn Y; 3B 11.00 Ox Sunnyside v Cliftonville 12.00, Warrenpoint v Hillsborough; 3G: 9.00, Oliver Plunkett v Lurgan; 10.00, Glentoran Colts v Castle Jun; 11.00, Glentoran v Windmill.

LEAGUE 2: 2B: 11.00, Lower Maze v TW Braga; 3A: 9.00, Blackstaff v Castle Jun Colts; 1100 Antrim Rovers v Castle Jun Colts, 3B: 9.00, Portadown v Lisburn Rgs; 10.00, Loughgall v Lisburn Ladies.

SOUTH ANTRIM LEAGUE

Only six matches beat the weather

Only six South Antrim League matches beat the snow on Saturday.

There were no Premier Division games, but three survived in Division 1 with Braniel YM II beating Cregagh Wanderers 3-0 through goals from Kyle Lemon, Luke Irwin and Gary McFarland.

Belvoir FC II received the points when Village Rec were unable to field a team and Colin Valley III beat Victoria Athletic 2-1

In Division 2 1st Lisburn II had a 3-1 win away to Clonduff YM III with Luke Chambers, Scott Parker and Ben McMechan getting their goals,

Two games survived in the Gordon Hanna Trophy first round with Orangefield OB III beating Newtown Forest III 2-1 thanks to Luke McCahon and Chris Sloan.

Clonduff YM beat South Antrim II 12-0. Scorers were Darren Stirling 5, Trevor Smyth 3, Johnny Bowes, Connor Campbell, Ryan Strachan and George Gillespie.

SOUTH ANTRIM LEAGUE RESULTS AT A GLANCE

DIVISION 1

Braniel YM II 3 Cregagh Wand 0

Belvoir FC II 2 Village Rec 0

Victoria Ath 1 Colin Valley III 2

DIVISION 2

Clonduff YM III 1 1st Lisburn II 3

GORDON HANNA TROPHY, first round

Clonduff YM 12 South Antrim II 0

Orangefield OB III 2 New

South Antrim League fixtures for tomorrow (Saturday), 2pm kick-off

PREMIER DIVISION: Ballymacash YM v Sandy Row, Clonduff YM v FC Utd Lisburn.

DIVISION 1: Colin Valley III v Orangefield OB III, Cregagh Wanderers v FC Utd Lisburn II.

DIVISION 2: Carrowdore YM v Warren YM II, Clonduff YM III v South Antrim II, Newtown Forest III v 1st Lisburn II.

GORDON HANNA TROPHY, preliminary round: Lambeg Rangers v Braniel YM; first round: Lambeg Rangers II v Warren YM, Belvoir FC v 1st Lisburn, Bloomfield III v Glaston, Belvoir FC II v Braniel YM II, South Antrim v Ballymacash YM III, Glenavy III v Ballymacash Rangers III, Moira Albion II v Clonduff YM II, Ballymacash YM II v Victoria Athletic.

SOUTH ANTRIM LEAGUE TABLES

PREMIER DIVISION P W D L PTS

Warren YM 13 8 3 1 30

Glaston 12 8 0 3 18

FC Utd Lisburn 12 7 0 4 18

South Antrim 13 5 1 7 16

Braniel YM 9 5 2 1 14

Ballymacash YM 8 4 1 2 13

Sandy Row 9 4 0 4 12

Clonduff YM 9 5 1 1 10

1st Lisburn 12 2 2 7 8

Lambeg Rgs 10 1 0 9 3

Belvoir FC 11 0 1 10 _3

DIVISION 1 P W D L PTS

Ballymacash YM II 12 10 0 2 30

Braniel YM II 13 9 2 2 29

FC Utd Lisburn II 13 6 1 6 19

Bloomfield III 11 6 1 4 19

Colin Valley III 14 6 1 7 19

Clonduff YM II 11 7 0 4 18

Village Rec 15 6 0 9 18

Orangefield OB III 13 5 2 6 17

Belvoir FC II 12 5 0 6 12

Cregagh Wand 15 3 1 11 10

Victoria Ath 13 3 0 9 9

DIVISION 2 P W D L PTS

Warren YM II 13 9 2 2 29

Carrowdore YM 12 8 3 1 27

Ballymacash Rgs III 12 8 2 2 26

Glenavy III 14 7 1 6 22

Moira Albion II 13 5 2 6 17

South Antrim II 13 4 5 4 17

1st Lisburn II 14 6 2 4 14

Ballymacash YM III 12 3 2 7 11

Clonduff YM III 11 5 0 6 9

Newtown Forest III 14 2 2 10 8

Lambeg Rgs II 13 0 4 10 4

Lisnagarvey High School

Primary School football tournament

Friday January 16 was the day that primary schools met to battle it out for the Dylan Livingstone 5-a-side football shield. Twenty teams and approximately 160 children in total participated from fourteen different primary schools. This once again was a record number since the tournament started.

The schools participating included Fort Hill, Riverdale, Brownlee, Tonagh, Ballymacash, Ballinderry, Largymore, Rowandale, Knockmore, Central, Pond Park, Maghaberry and Meadow Bridge. With so many teams taking part, the teams were split into four groups of four where the winners and the runners up would make it through to the quarter finals.

In group one Tonagh ‘A’ topped the group with Meadow Bridge ‘B’ finishing runners up. In group two Riverdale were winners with Knockmore ‘A’ coming runners up. In group three Ballymacash ‘B’ came out on top with Pond Park coming in the runners up spot while in group four Ballymacash ‘A’ topped the group with Fort Hill coming in a close second.

The first quarter final was between Tonagh ‘A’ and Pond Park with Tonagh ‘A’ eventually knocking out a strong Pond Park side to go through to the semis. The second quarter final was between Fort Hill and Riverdale. Both teams were very evenly matched throughout the game but it was Fort Hill who came out on top.

In the third quarter final it was again a close run affair between Ballymacash ‘B’ and Meadow Bridge ‘B’, however it was a strong Meadow Bridge team that progressed to the semis. The last quarter final was between Ballymacash ‘A’ and Knockmore ‘A’ which was an end to end match with both teams having plenty of opportunities. It turned out however to be the Knockmore team who took the last place in the semis, knocking out the 2014 champions.

The first semi-final was between Tonagh ‘A’ and Meadow Bridge ‘B’. Both teams played great football and neither team looked to be on top however Tonagh ‘A’ scored an early goal which Meadow Bridge could not come back from which was enough to see them through to the final.

The second semi-final was contested between Fort Hill and Knockmore. This was a tight game right from the start but at the final whistle it was Fort Hill, with a real battling performance, who progressed to the finals. This would mean two of the favourites had reached the final and would go head to head for the prestigious trophy.

The final between Tonagh ‘A’ and Fort Hill was to be a thriller. Both teams were very different with Tonagh having a very skilful and a mixture of youth and experience whereas Fort Hill was fielding a very young team that worked incredibly hard. The game had chances at both ends, however, it was Tonagh ‘A’, who had been consistently excellent all day, who edged the final by a score of 2-1.

Player of the tournament went to Jack Riley who was outstanding all day and managed to find the back of the net on several occasions.

Many thanks must go to the staff and pupils who set up and ran another very successful tournament.