Moyola Under 16s hit five at home to Coleraine

Coleraine U16 - 0

Coleraine under 16s were the visitors at the Mill Meadow on Saturday morning where they played Moyola u16s. Fresh in Moyola's mind was the 2-0 defeat inflicted on them by Coleraine at this same venue at the end of last season.

However, the steely resolve shown by this Moyola team in recent games was again in evidence, and from the outset the visitors found themselves on the back foot.

Just ten minutes into the game the ball was played wide to the left from midfield, and Moyola debutant, Johnny Downey saw the Coleraine 'keeper was off the line. A neat lob was the result and Moyola were a goal up, early in the match.

The visitors refused to give up easily and matched Moyola throughout the remainder of the first half, keeping the score to 1-0 to Moyola at half-time.

Early in the second half with the Moyola defence again dominating , the visitors were becoming more frustrated and the home team began to push forward in search of the second goal which came from a fine piece of work and good finish by Paul McQuillan.

A few minutes later, Johnny Downey hit a great volley for his second goal, leaving Moyola well in control.

Coleraine still fought hard and could have scored mid-way through the second half only to be denied by the ever alert "JJ" Henry in the Moyola goals.

However, this is proving to be a very determined Moyola team, and even with a comfortable lead they still fought hard for every ball and urged each other on. The defence were firm throughout, while the midfield dominated with Tomas McLaughlin and Paudy Martin constantly tormenting the visitors.

Up front Moyola were equally impressive. Niall Loughlin worked particularly hard and nowhere was this more obvious than when late on in the game he ran across half the pitch to chase a seemingly lost ball, and this work resulted in his second and Moyola's fifth goal.

Another excellent team performance, and with quite a few challengers, the man of the match award goes to Kyle McEllhatton, solid at the heart of the Moyola defence.

A comfortable victory for the under 16s then, but the game was only won by the hard work they have shown in recent weeks.

Moyola under16s manager, Robin Martin paid tribute the young lads after the match, remarking how strong they have become as a result of a more disciplined approach to training and to games.

He mentioned their hard work and their acceptance of the need to fight for a place on the team. Robin remarked how the lads realised it was not a place for individuals, but very much a team and squad game. With such a long season, every player in the squad will be very important in the weeks ahead.

Moyola: Michael "JJ" Henry, Danny Devlin, Des McColgan, Kyle McElhatton, Nathan Swann, Paudy Martin, Paul McQuillan, Tomas McLaughlin, Rory Young (Capt), Jonathan Downey, Conor McKay, Niall Loughlin, Martin Crozier, Conor Taggart, Daniel McCormack, Emmet Crozier.