Northern Ireland’s Under-15 team were too strong for hosts Cyprus in a UEFA development tournament.
Competition
UEFA U15 Development Tournament
Scoreline
Cyprus U15s 1-3 Northern Ireland U15s
Scorers
Northern Ireland: Michael Mulholland (2), Mason Ayre
Venue
Tasos Markou Stadium, Paralimni
Date
27 November 2024
Team News
Northern Ireland U15s head coach Michael McClean has chosen a 20-strong panel for games against Cyprus, Hungary and Finland in the development tournament.
The players in the squad are all part of the Irish FA’s JD National Performance Programme.
How it happened
The tournament hosts started the game the brighter of the two teams and could have taken an early lead but for some smart saves from Northern Ireland goalkeeper Matthew Belshaw.
Northern Ireland grew into the game as the half progressed and took the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Mason Ayre pounced on a loose pass in the Cyprus defence and played in forward Michael Mulholland who raced through to find himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper - and he finished well.
Half-time: Cyprus U15s 0-1 Northern Ireland U15s
Early in the second half Mulholland doubled the visitors’ lead when he was again played through by Ayre and he calmly lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper from 18 yards.
Cyprus pulled a goal back on 60 minutes to set up a tense final 30 minutes.
In the 63rd minute Cyprus could have drawn level, however they were denied by a brilliant point blank save from Northern Ireland substitute keeper Phoenix Blayney.
Northern Ireland thought they had a third when they put the ball in the Cyrpus net again, however the ‘goal’ was controversially ruled out for offside.
Cyprus pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages but the Northern Ireland defence held firm.
The win was confirmed in the final moments of the 90 minutes when substitute Odhran McHugh raced onto a long ball, rounded the keeper and showed great composure to cut the ball back for Ayre to calmly finish from six yards.
Matchday two for Northern Ireland U15s is tomorrow (29 Nov) when they will face Hungary at the Municipality Stadium in Liopetri at 11am local time.Hungary defeated Finland 1-0 in their first game of the tournament.
And McClean’s team will be at the same venue for their final game of the development tournament on Monday (2 December). Kick-off time for the encounter with Finland is once again 11am local time.
Full-time: Cyprus U15s 1-3 Northern Ireland U15s
Northern Ireland starting line-up: Matthew Belshaw, Jude Crawford, Alfie Mulvenna, Daniel McCarron, Daniel Patterson, Adam Nelson, Liam Kelly, Lukas Doherty, Mason Ayre, Michael Mulholland, Padai O’Kane.
Substitutes: Phoenix Blayney (GK), Bailey Magee, Alfie Pollock, Preston McKeown, Daniel Hashim, Jay McCafferty, Jay Forsyth, Logan McKnight, Odhran McHugh.
