Tyrone Premiers take on might of Manchester United in Milk Cup
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
It was an action-packed game between the Tyrone Premier side and Manchester United at the Ballymena Showgrounds but it was the United outfit which proved physically stronger in the end. Picture supplied by Russell Pritchard. sc30325
DAY 1:
County Tyrone 0 Manchester United 4.
DENNIS McElhatton's Premier side came up against the might of Manchester United at the Ballymena Showgrounds and while the Tyrone boys did themselves proud, they were outclassed by a physically big and technically excellent United side.
Tyrone started off very compact and deep, with United dominating possession early on. Tyrone soon settled down and used the ball well, finding Caolan McAleer and Philip Wallace out wide.
However, two goals in two minutes from United left Tyrone in little doubt about the difficulty of the task ahead. Both came from United's John Coife; the first was a cool finish past the on-rushing Martin Mongan while the second was an instinctive tap-in from close range.
There may have been fears of an onslaught at this stage, but it never materialised. Mongan had to be alert to save well from United's William Keane on 15 minutes, whileat the other end, Matty Clarke was working hard to pressure the United defence, aided by Wallace, McAleer and Stefan Lavery.
Kyle McCammon did his part at both ends on 25 minutes. First, he drove out of defence and launched a counter attack. This came to nothing and when United launched a counter of their own he put in a brilliant covering tackle when Coife looked certain to score.
Tyrone had a couple of chances to get on the scoresheet before half-time; first, Lavery headed wide from a Matty Clarke free-kick from the left, and on the stroke of half-time, Lavery had another effort blocked following good work from Wallace.
You got the impression that United had another gear and indeed, they found it moments into the second half when Coife completed his hat-trick.
The United number nine was allowed space to drive forward. he passed to Will Keane, whose effort was brilliantly palmed onto the crossbar by Mongan, only for Coife to tap-in the rebound.
Tyrone's play became more direct after this as they looked for something fro mthe game. The tactic almost paid off on 40 minutes when Wallace's cross-shot from the right was almost met by Lavery, while John Edgar sliced over from 25 yards minutes later.
But the game was finally over as a contest with United's fourth goal on 46 minutes. Sub Michael Keane drove into the box and his low effort squirmed under Mongan's body and over the line.
United made a number of substitutions after this, content with the 4-0 scoreline. Tyrone had a few half-chances to grab a consolation, most notably when Matty Clarke broke well from midfield, but he was held-up by United's defence and the chance passed.
Tyrone put in a spirited performance and against a lesser side, would have come out with a more postitive result. You have to remember, quite a few of this United side have already played reserve team football for the Reds.
Tyrone: Martin Mongan, Luke McGeehan, Stuart Forrest, Joe Collins, Kyle McCammon, Nathan Milligan, John Edgar, Philip Wallace, Caolan McAleer, Stefan Lavery, Matthew Clarke. Sub used: Stuart Glasgow
Subscribe to read full newspaper »
Send to a friend
Please complete the following form to inform a friend about this page.
