Latest football round-up

Braniel YM 1-1 Glaston, Glaston Won 5-3 Pens

Glaston are among the silverware again after beating Braniel YM 5-3 on penalties in the final of the South Antrim League’s Supplementary Cup.

The game finished 1-1 after extra time but Braniel missed their second spot-kick and all the rest were scored.

Glaston snatched the runners-up place in the league a couple of weeks ago to complete another successful season but Braniel, who had good knock-out runs outside the league failed to win a trophy.

Braniel took the lead after ten minutes when Craig Rutherford’s shot from the edge of the box nestled into the left-hand corner of the net.

Glaston responded soon afterwards when the Braniel keeper pushed a shot clear and Jim Mullan pounced to slot home the equaliser.

After that, there were a few scoring chances, but defences were mainly on top even in extra time.

The penalty shoot-out was the third in the three finals played at Bog Road in the last two weeks.

Braniel’s Craig Rutherford took the man of the match award.

Time to apply to South Antrim League

It is time to apply to join the South Antrim League during the 2014-15 season.

Any clubs interested should, in the first instance, contact League secretary, Mark Fenton at 07958648493.

Braniel II win thrilling League finale

Braniel YM II 3-2 Cregagh Wanderers

Braniel YM II gained revenge for the Whiteside Cup final defeat, when they won the South Antrim League Division Two play-off with a thrilling 3-2 win over Cregagh Wanderers on Saturday.

Braniel took the lead after only five minutes through Nathan Spiers, but with ten minutes on the clock Cregagh were level.

Five minutes after this exciting start, a player from each team was sent off, one for a head butt and the other for retaliation.

Cregagh came back to take the lead, but had their keeper sent-off for kicking at a player, though the penalty which was awarded to put Braniel level, again through Spiers, was a bit controversial.

So it was a first-half with four goals shared and three players sent off, but could they keep it up?

The second-half was evenly contested with both teams having chances, but it was Braniel who got the winner eight minutes from time when Lewis Irwin broke the deadlock.

Lisburn Junior Invitational League

Youth League Officers

Eric Lyons was re-elected as president at the annual meeting of the Lisburn Junior Invitational League.

Eric has held this position since the inception of the League and has a hands on approach, giving a lot of help to the League.

Stanley Sheppard is once again the chairman and has done a lot of valuable work since taking over from the late Tommy Whiteside.

The secretary’s position is also a re-election with Barbara McGaw continuing to do a great job.

Committee: Paul Alexander, Brian Gordon, Gareth Maxwell, Colin Scott, Aidan Gawley, Chris Budd, Norman Donaldson.

The deadline for entering next season has been extended to 16 June and applications will be considered on that date.

open evening at Distillery

Lisburn Distillery Football Club are holding an open supper evening and presentation about the club and their involvement in the local community next Thursday night (5 June).

Commencing at 7.30pm in the players lounge at New Grosvenor Stadium, the event is open to all local companies who would be interested in finding out more about how sponsorship partnerships with the club could benefit their businesses.

Discussing the event, club director Colin Hopkins said: “We at Lisburn Distillery are exceptionally grateful to all of those local businesses who have supported the club through sponsorship over this last number of years but now with big new plans on the horizon for the club and its successful Youth Academy, we are keen to further develop this particular area within the club.

“Sponsorship is not necessarily all about supporting the club financially, although clearly this helps massively, but even the provision of services or supplies can be of tremendous benefit to the club. Lisburn Distillery is not just a football club, it is a positive influence in the local community and with the support of local businesses we have no doubt that we can make that influence even stronger in days to come.”

Any businesses wishing to attend the presentation can reserve their space by e-mailing the club directly at [email protected].

Manager Wanted

Lower Maze FC looking for a new boss

Lower maze FC, who currently play in Mid-Ulster Intermediate A Division, are on the look-out for a new manager.

Anybody interested in the post should contact chairman, Alistair on 07710833985.

Lisburn Ladies FC

Lisburn up against Premier opposition

Lisburn Ladies face their toughest test of the season so far when they come up against Premiership opposition on Monday.

The girls will have to be at their best to protect their 100% record for the current campaign when they travel to take on Ballymena United All Stars in the County Antrim Cup quarter-final.

Lisburn thrashed Chimney Corner 6-1 in the last round but it certainly won’t be so easy this time out.

“Our aim is just to go out and give them a good game,” said Head Coach Hayden Davis.

“We want to hold our own against a Premier League club. We want to be able to hold our shape and play against them. We want to put in a good performance.

“They will have experienced women who have played Premier League football for years. We’ll definitely need another good display from our goalkeeper Jessica Poots, who is the Northern Ireland U17 keeper. She’s kept a few clean sheets already this year so we need another performance from her and also from our goal-scorer Stacey Hamilton.”

The Lisburn girls have won eight out of eight so far this season and, sitting top of the table, are targetting promotion to Division One. They also continued their Irish Cup campaign on Monday evening with a win over Comber Rec.

Davis said: “Comber are a division below us but we were down to the bare bones with players doing exams and some others injured.

“We had seven girls on the pitch who were under 18 so it’s never easy for a team so young to play against women.

“It was a great win for the girls, three of them even stepping up from the U17s.”

Comber Rec Ladies 0-2 Lisburn Ladies

On Monday night, the Seniors travelled to Comber in the second round of the IFA Women’s Irish Cup to face a big, physical Comber Rec team who also are dominating their own league, Division Three.

Lisburn Ladies were missing seven first team players due to holidays, work commitments and through injury. This gave an opportunity for a few players from the Under 17 team to step up and impress at senior level, including a second start for Chelsea Meehan after an impressive debut. Orlaith McVeagh was also making her debut after returning from university.

In front of a good home crowd, Comber started quickly, using their pace down the wings. A foul on the edge of the Lisburn box saw Comber’s best and probably only clean chance at goal, when the centre midfielder blazed the resulting free kick over the bar.

Lisburn started to settle and play some good football on the big pitch opening up gaps in the the Comber back four. Lisburn’s first real chance fell to Monkia Olszewska, a diagonal ball from Orlaith Mcveagh found Monkia inside the box and she shot first time but it flew past the post.

Lisburn weere showing their dominance and finally rewarded their good play with a goal from a set piece. A corner crossed in by Jenny Hinds wasn’t able to be cleared and Stacey Murdough slotted home from six yards.

Lisburn continued to push on without creating much in front of goal.

The second half started off as the first had finished with Lisburn dominating the possession and creating the better chances. It took until half way through the second half for Lisburn to get their second goal, when good pressure by Abbie Burnett forced confusion between Comber’s right back and goalkeeper leaving Abbie an open net and the easiest goal she will score in her career.

That pretty much sealed the game as Lisburn continued to dominate and saw the rest of the game out with ease.

It was a good all round performance and another clean sheet from the girls considering the shortness in numbers. This win now sees Lisburn Ladies into the hat for the third round draw, which gives them the chance to come up against Premiership opposition.

Team: Jessica Poots, Chlesea Meehan, Hayley Anderson, Fiona Martin, Chloe Glover, Monkia Olszewska, Orlaith Mcveagh (Shane Magno), Stacey Murdough (Courtney Poots), Dani Bingham, Jenny Hinds, Abbie Burnett.

Trial day

Crewe United will be holding a Trail Day at Wedderburn Park Playing Fields on Saturday June 7 from 11am - 1pm.

The day will be open to all under-15’s. Anyone interested in joining the club should come along.