A Northern Ireland Under-14 development squad performed strongly at a tournament organised by Everton FC.
Head coach Michael McClean picked a squad of 22 players, all of whom are part of the Irish FA National Academy (Regional) Programme, for the trip to Liverpool.
The squad travelled to Finch Farm, Everton’s training base, to compete against Peterborough, Stevenage and hosts Everton.
It was the first time the squad had played together, having been selected from the four National Academy regional centres across Northern Ireland. The camp also served as preparation for a trip to Spain next month where the U14s will take on Spain and Qatar.
The team played three 40-minute games at the mini tournament and registered a win, a draw and a defeat.
McClean revealed: “They produced some good spells and created a number of very good goalscoring opportunities in all three games. Overall they competed well, especially considering this was their first games together as a squad.”
During the trip the players also met two former Irish FA JD Academy graduates, Jack Patterson and Braiden Graham, who both moved to Everton from the academy.
The two players shared some insights with the squad about their respective football journeys to date and provided some valuable advice.
The weekend was rounded off with a tour of Goodison Park, Everton’s home ground.
Next up for the U14 squad is the international camp in Albir, from 5-11 May, where they will take on the Spanish and the Qataris.
The 22-strong Northern Ireland U14 squad featured: Luke Bellingham (Ballymena United), Kaysan Braniff (Linfield), Corey McCartney (Linfield), Eoghan Rafferty (Cliftonville), Daithi Holleran (Crusaders), Cohen Ennis (Crusaders), Cruz Devlin (Crusaders), Noah Henderson (Linfield), Will Megaw (Glenavon), Michael Mulholland (Crusaders), Luca Hall (Ballinamallard United).
Also: Eoghan Mallon (Loughgall), Quinn Milligan (Linfield), Will Davison (Crusaders), Luca Lavery (Crusaders), Ryan McKeown (Crusaders), Fionnbharr Stiobhard (Cliftonville), Hunter Beattie (Linfield), Luke Wells (Glenavon), Conleth O’Neill (Linfield), Aidan Hamill (Loughgall), Finn Gallagher (Cliftonville).
