Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.
Northern Ireland Milk Cup 2012
Shamrock Park, Portadown
Saturday 21st July 2012, 5pm
Co. Armagh 1(0) – 1(1) Spurs
Spurs (4-3-3)All Navy:– Priestley, Lyons-Foster, Vincent-Young(Campbell-Young 36), Winks(Goddard 52), Ogilvie, Pritchard(Amos 50), Sonupe(Magbadelo 45), Walton-Owens, Oduwa(Walkes 64), Miller, Georgiou
Co. Armagh (4-4-2)All White:– Marron, Corrigan, Dane, Finnigan(Duke 57), Lowe, Mallon, Marshall, McKenna(Lavery 40), McNorris, McNally, Quinn
Scorers:- Oduwa 4, Duke 58
Booked:- Dane(Late) 57, Marshall(Handball) 59
I arrived close to the kick-off time so was not able to prepare myself before the teams came out. Added to this, some of the Spurs players had different squad numbers than listed. Even the organisers were caught out. I will post a complete squad list when I get it, but apologise if there are any mistakes. It was a warm evening and a large crowd turned out to see their home side.
Spurs lined up with Priestley in goal behind Vincent-Young and Ogilvie with Lyons-Foster at right back and Walton-Owens on the left. Pritchard, Winks and Miller formed the midfield with Sonupe up front flanked by Oduwa on his right and Georgiou on the left.
Spurs defended the north end in the first half and were quickly on the attack. With Miller firing over from Winks' through ball. Sonupe was released and got into the six yard box before a timely tackle prevented him from shooting. Oduwa ran onto a through ball from Pritchard to drill the ball home as Spurs took the lead.
McNorris played in Mallon for an effort that flew wide. Corrigan fired over from distance as Armagh began to find openings. Marron saved from Sonupe following a blocked effort. Lowe put his effort wide before Oduwa beat the offside trap only to see his shot saved.
Finnigan fired wide before Vincent-Young prevented another attempt from the same player after he had worked his way through. Oduwa fired a free kick wide following a foul on Miller. When Pritchard was fouled in a more central position, Oduwa got his strike on target only to be foiled by Marron. Lowe had another effort fly wide just before the referee blew for half time.
Spurs made one change for the second half when Campbell-Young replaced Vincent-Young at the back. Ogilvie fired wide soon after kick off and McKenna was off target as well. Sonupe was played through but struck the crossbar with his effort. Oduwa fired wide before Corrigan got past Ogilvie and crossed for Finnigan who brought a good save from Priestley. Corrigan collected the loose ball but fired wide of the far post.
Spurs made a number of changes with Sonupe being replaced by Magbadelo up front; Pritchard was replaced by Amos in the middle, and Goddard came on for Winks.
Ogilvie, up for a corner, saw his effort cleared off the line at the far post.Dane earned a yellow card for two late tackles in quick succession. Duke came on for Finnigan and scored from his first effort when he cut out a cross field pass from Ogilvie. With the ball flying up in the air, Duke got his head to it before Priestley.
A minute later, Amos's pass found Oduwa in the area and his effort hit Marshall's hands. The referee pointed to the spot which was a little harsh. Oduwa hit his penalty down the middle where Marron had spread himself to save. Oduwa gave way to Walkes as Spurs pressed for a winner. Ogilvie broke into the area but Marron saved his shot and Georgiou fired wide. Corrigan had the last chance when he fired wide.
Spurs start with a point when they should have had three. The Spurs players wanted too much time on the ball and were taking too many touches, which allowed the Armagh players to get a tackle in. Miller looked good on the ball and Oduwa was always a threat on the right side of the attack. Ogilvie looked confident for most of the game apart for the mistake that cost a goal. There was no real sign of the passing game that Inglethorpe instils in the U-18's, where these boys will be heading soon. Considering that Man Utd lost their first match, a point is not bad. Our next game is on monday when South Coast Strikers will be the opposition. Last year they beat Spurs 1-0.
Ray
Here are Ray's reports on this tournament:-
Spurs youngsters to take part in the Northern Ireland Milk Cup
Spurs (U-17s) 1 South Coast Strikers 7 - Spurs' lads trounced
Spurs (U-17s) 4 Otago 0- Alex at the helm!
Spurs (U-17s) 1 CSKA Moscow 2 - Russian strength wins it
Spurs (U-17s) 2 Co. Londonderry 1 - Spurs boys win their 3rd/4th place final
Ray Lo reflects upon the tournament.
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