Adam O’Shea, Alfie Power and Sonny Crowley all scored against Arsenal
THE West Cork Academy U12 schoolboys produced terrific displays against Arsenal and Rangers’ academies during a productive June bank holiday trip to Belfast.
The region’s youngest inter-league representatives travelled north and played three quality opponents as part of their continuing footballing education.
West Cork faced a local Belfast side on Friday evening before going up against Premier League club Arsenal’s Northern Irish Academy the following day. West Cork’s final outing was a Sunday fixture against Glasgow giants, Rangers.
To put the quality of the opponents into context, West Cork were facing Arsenal and Rangers squads made up of some of the best and most sought-after U12 footballers from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Last weekend’s Arsenal and Rangers squads also included a large number of invited players from across Europe.
It is to the West Cork Academy’s U12s credit that they gave a fine account of themselves considering the high quality of each of their opposing teams.
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First up were Belfast Premier league side Aquinas. A cracking game ensued and the sides couldn’t be separated at the conclusion of a 3-3 draw. Michael O’Sullivan scored twice and Tiernan O’Regan also got his name on the scoresheet before Aquinas equalised in the last minute.
That superb performance preceded West Cork’s most difficult game of the weekend against a star-studded Arsenal Academy team.
The level of competition was extremely high and the speed of the ball being moved far in excess of what the West Cork players would have previously experienced. West Cork acquitted themselves well and managed to cope with the opposition for prolonged periods which was the main task set out by their coaches.
Despite an expected loss, West Cork managed to score three times against their Premier League opponents with Adam O’Shea, Alfie Power and Sonny Crowley netting.
The West Cork Academy rounded off their Belfast trip with a 3-0 loss to Rangers. Despite holding the Scottish Premier club scoreless for three-quarters of the game, tiredness saw Rangers take advantage with three late goals.
The West Cork Academy U12 schoolboys squad included Joe Bennett, Daniel Brady, Sonny Crowley, Oisín Cullinane, Noah Collins, Harry Duggan, Gearoid Evans, Noah Kingston, Zack Murphy, Luca O’Donovan, Paudie O’Donovan, Max O’Keeffe, Rian O’Mahony, Tiernan O’Regan, Adam O’Shea, Cian O’Shea, Michael O’Sullivan, Alfie Power, Josh Quinn, Jacob Ryan and Oskar Ustjanowski.
