Northern Ireland U15 secure second home win
- Written by Ross Redman
- Published in U15 schoolboys
The Northern Ireland Under 15 team continued their fine form by recording a second 2-1 victory over Slovakia at Newry.
The home team started brightly and went in front after 22 minutes. A period of intense pressure saw Alberto Balde crash a shot against the bar and when Ben Wylie fired in the rebound a Slovak defender handled the ball. Chris McKee stepped up to slot the penalty kick low inside the post.
On the half hour Slovakia came close with a powerful free kick by Tomas Suslov which David Walsh tipped over the bar.
After the interval Slovakia came more into the game but Northern Ireland were always dangerous on the break and it was a breakaway after 65 minutes which produced a second goal for the home team. Peter McKiernan and Barry Baggley carved open the visitors defence but Baggley's shot was deflected for a corner. Jessie Carson, who had scored a spectacular goal on Monday, met the corner kick to crash an unstoppable volley into the corner of the net.
Slovakia pressed strongly but found Walsh in fine form, saving from Matej Rosenberger and Adrian Mojzis. With 7 minutes remaining Slovakia were awarded a penalty when Matus Capko was brought down and Sebastian Nebyla confidently converted the spot kick.
Northern Ireland
David Walsh
Carl Johnson
Aaron Brown
Trai Hume
John McGovern
Jessie Carson
Ben Wylie (c)
Alberto Balde
Gerald Storey
Chris McKee
Adrien Steele
Substitutes
Matthew Smith (replaced Brown 38 minutes)
Peter McKiernan (replaced McKee 57 minutes)
Barry Baggley (replaced Steele 60 minutes)
Harry Anderson (replaced Balde 67 minutes)
