Poland v Northern Ireland – U16 Schoolboys

(Wednesday 23^rd November 2016 – JKS Stadium, Jaroslaw, 12.00 pm)

Match Report

Northern Ireland Under 16s lose narrowly in Poland

The Northern Ireland U16 team narrowly lost 1-0 in their second international challenge match against Poland at a packed stadium in Jaroslaw in front of a crowd of 5,000.

The visitors opened brightly with Jack Scott and Andrew Whiteside showing up well in midfield.  However, it was the home team which came closest to scoring after 15 minutes when Kevin Rubaszewski hit the bar from 10 yards.  Ten minutes later Rubaszewski made amends for this miss by outpacing two defenders down the left before squaring the ball to Blazej Czuban, who netted from close range.

Northern Ireland responded well to this reverse and Polish goalkeeper Marcel Lotka was called into action to deal with a series of dangerous crosses from Callum Ferris and Ethan Warnock

Five minutes after the restart Alberto Almanzar was unfortunate to see his header clip the bar and go over with Lotka well beaten.

With ten minutes remaining Almanzar turned provider as his pass split the home defence but Lotka was quickly off his line to save at the feet of Connor Farrelly.

In the closing stages Northern Ireland piled on the pressure, forcing a series of corners and free kicks, but the Polish defence held on for a narrow win.

This game and the previous one on Monday were the first internationals to be staged in the region for 16 years.

FULL-TIME: Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Team

Scott Pengelly, Jake Corbett, Ethan Warnock, Barney McKeown, Jack Conlon, Jack Scott, Connor Farrelly (c), Callum Ferris, Alberto Almanzar, Lee Upton, Andrew Whiteside

Substitutes:

Ben Wylie replaced Upton 40 minutes

Lee O'Brien replaced Ferris 53 minutes

George Curran replaced Whiteside 69 minutes

Dean Corrigan replaced Corbett 72 minutes

Northern Ireland will be aiming to collect the trophy for only the second time in the competition’s history when they take part in this year’s Victory Shield.

The Under-16 Schoolboys international competition, which is organised by the Schools’ Association Football International Board, gets under way on Sunday at the Oriam sports complex in Edinburgh, which is part of Heriot-Watt University.

Northern Ireland have only won the shield once – in 2000-01 – since the current version was set up in 1947.

England have not entered for the past couple of years, so the U16s will be facing current holders Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland in Edinburgh. The team is being managed by Irish FA elite performance coach Darren Murphy.

Northern Ireland will begin their quest for Victory Shield glory against hosts Scotland on Sunday followed by a tie against the Republic on Tuesday and a game against Wales next Friday.

The schedule for this year’s Victory Shield is:

Sunday 30 October

2pm - Scotland v Northern Ireland

5pm - Wales v Republic of Ireland

Tuesday 1 November

1pm - Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland

4pm - Scotland v Wales

Friday 4 November

12.30pm - Northern Ireland v Wales

3.30pm - Scotland v Republic of Ireland

The Northern Ireland Victory Shield squad for 2016 is:

Goalkeepers – Tiernan Parker (School: Onslow St Audrey’s Hatfield/Club: Luton Town), Paul McLaughlin (CBS Secondary Belfast/Glentoran);

Defenders – Jake Corbett (Dromore High School/Linfield), Ethan Warnock (Ashfield Boys’ School Belfast/Glentoran), Sam McClelland (Limavady Grammar/Coleraine), Dean Corrigan (Enniskillen Royal Grammar/Ballinamallard United), Barney McKeown (St Colman’s College Newry/Portadown), Jack Conlon (St Ronan’s College Lurgan/Portadown), Jack Scott (Tandragee Junior High/Linfield);

Midfielders – Ethan Galbraith (Glengormley High/Linfield), Lee O’Brien (Dunclug College Ballymena/Cliftonville), Jordon McEneff (St Columb’s College Derry-Londonderry/Coleraine), Andrew Whiteside (Coleraine Grammar/Coleraine), George Curran (Royal School Dungannon/Linfield), Paul McAdorey (St Patrick’s College Belfast/Cliftonville);

Forwards – Ben Wilson (St Columb’s College Derry-Londonderry/Coleraine), Christopher Conn (St Mary’s Grammar Belfast/Glentoran), Connor Farrelly (Corpus Christi Belfast/Cliftonville), Callum Ferris (Craigavon Senior High Lurgan/Portadown), Caolan McLaughlin (St Joseph’s Secondary Derry-Londonderry/Foyle Harps).

The Northern Ireland U18 Schoolboys begin their preparation for their 2017 Centenary shield season with trial games across the country.  Northern Ireland under 18 international team manager Frankie Wilson “the trial process is key to the selection of the team, we would like to give as many young players as possible the chance to showcase their talent for a chance to play for their country”. The under 18 management team are now looking for recommendations from clubs and schools to send through their best 5/6 players to take part in the trial process. It is important to state that there is an extremely high level deemed international standard should to considered to attend trials.

 The trials will be as follows:

North West Trial – Vale Centre - Sunday 16^th October at 10.15am.

South Down and Armagh Trial – Camlough FC – Sunday 23^rd October at 10.15am

Tyrone and Fermanagh Trial – Institute FC – Tuesday 8^th November at 7.30pm

Antrim and North Down – Queens DUB – Sunday 13^th November at 10.15am

Players must be at the 1999 and 2000 age groups (players must be born ON OR AFTER 1 JANUARY 1999).

Please send the following information to Bob Ramsey, NISFA under 18 International Team Secretary, ASAP.

Email – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

1. Name
2. Date of Birth
3. Position
4. School
5. Club