Lurgan Town Boys FC

Lurgan Town U12 MU team played Armagh City on Saturday at the Gordon Playing Fields in what turned out to be an entertaining game.

Lurgan started this game with a determination to get a positive result against an Armagh team that beat them earlier in the season 3-0. Lurgan created a couple of early chances with Luke Nelson and Callum Magee going close to open the scoring however Armagh took the lead against the run of play. Despite the setback for Lurgan they continued to play their best football of the season with great passing and strength in the tackle. It was top goalscorer Luke Nelson who took control of the game for Lurgan with 2 quick goals with Jonny Russell, Jack Malcomson and Callum Magee involved in the build up for both of Luke’s goals. Luke almost got his hat-trick after great skill and un-selfish play from Lewis McKinley in the penalty area which Luke narrowly shot wide. Then another agonising moment for Luke as he hit a free kick just past the post with the Armagh keeper rooted to the spot.  H-T 2-1

The 2nd half started with Armagh starting to put pressure on Lurgan but despite some excellent defensive play from Timmy Millen, Tyler Boyce, Luke McCartney and Jonny Russell they eventually got the equaliser. Armagh almost took the lead but good goalkeeping from Stuart Hoy prevented this from happening. Lurgan continued to attack with Callum Magee showing great ability on the ball and with the driving force of Jack Malcomson and Peter Mulligan in the centre midfield. With the pressure increasing on Armagh it wasn’t long when Lurgan took the lead and then extended it with 2 quick goals. The first of the 2 came from Callum Magee after he reacted to mistake by the Armagh keeper then Jason Benson scored his 8th of the season with a well placed finish. Lurgan almost got a 5th but Luke Nelson hit the post after he out-sprinted the Armagh defence. Armagh reacted with 2 goals in the final 10 minutes. F-T 4-4

This was a great team performance from Lurgan Town against a team they have never took points of previously so credit to all the players. On another day with a bit more luck Lurgan would have won this game with ease. Luke Nelson tortured the Armagh defence for 60 mins and maybe could have had 5 goals instead of 2 and the defence were pretty solid for most of the game with just the odd mistake which unfortunately got punished. The hope for the team is to carry on with this form for the remaining games of the season. M.O.M JONNY RUSSELL

Team – Stuart Hoy, Jonny Russell, Timmy Millen, Tyler Boyce ©, Luke McCartney, Callum Magee, Jack Malcomson, Peter Mulligan, Jason Benson, Lewis McKinley, Luke Nelson, Adam Craig