Bangor Young Men FC Youth Trip to Blackburn October 2008.
BANGOR YOUNG MEN F.C. YOUTH SECTION TRIP Report
Over the weekend of the 7th_ 10th of November Bangor Young Men Youth Section went on a football training trip organised by Mr Cecil Braniff the Youth Development Officer and his brother Cyril Braniff, the Blackburn Rovers agent in Northern Ireland. We were hosted by Nigel Dixon of BlackburnRoversYouthAcademy and the Directors of the Senior Club Robert Coar and Richard Matthewman and We extend to them our extreme thanks and appreciation.
Both youth teams took full squads to Blackburn and were accommodated at the excellent Avenue Hotel in BrockhallVillage which over looks the Senior Blackburn Rovers FC training facility. The hotel staff were very helpful and attentive to our needs, the accommodation supplied us with all the facilities we required and we shared it with Duncan Russell who is Fitness Coach to the Senior team managed by Paul Ince.
Over the weekend both teams were to play two matches, on the Saturday morning the U19’s played against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Senior Team, they came away as winners after a hard tackling, physical game; a full match report is attached. Our hosts on the day made us most welcome and food and beverages were laid on for the team and staff before and after the game.
The same afternoon the U16’s played at BlackburnYouthAcademy facilities against a BlackburnRoversSelectAcademy team. These are the same facilities that Shearer, Sutton, and Hughes had graced before the new facilities were built. The U19’s could not believe the U16’s luck to play at such a well renowned ClubAcademy. The game was hard fought and our team put up an excellent display but came out second best. Again a full match report is attached, together with the views of the Chairman and coaching staff of BYM Youth Section.
That evening both squads were hosted by Nigel at their local team club, where the players watched the Liverpool game, and food was laid on. They made us more than welcome and we can only thank them very much for their hospitality.
Day two we were to play Accrington Stanley one of the oldest and proudest teams in the English League, but due to worsening weather the referees decided to abandon both matches at 0-0. At 11 o’clock both squads and staff observed a 2minutes silence and paid respect to the fallen of all conflicts.
It was then on to EwoodPark, the home of Blackburn Rovers FC to watch them play against Chelsea, the weather on the day was grim, but our squads cheered on the home team who lost to a lucky Chelsea.
On Monday we were ready to go home after a busy weekend, but the lads had one more chance to collect autographs and photos as the Blackburn Team came into train and stop at the gates for our lads. The Liverpool fans had a treat as an idol Robbie Fowler  stopped for 10 mins and chatted with the boys and signed shirts and programmes. Thanks go out to the Blackburn squad for taking the time to stop and do this for our players.
Once again the teams would like to thank Cecil Braniff for his hard work getting this organised and to their coaches Davy Fleming and Ali Bell, also to Ross Wilson U16’s trainee coach and Gareth Doak the U16’s club referee who had come along to help, also a big thanks to Ann Bell who was the both squads mother figure on the trip.
The staff and coaches also would like to thank the players for their efforts on the pitch and their behaviour off it, as we have been invited back again next year by all those who looked after us and hosted us, WELL DONE LADS.
Queen Elizabeth Grammar V BYM U19’s
As with any friendly match both teams went out to play good football, the opening ten minutes showed hard tackling and good passing play. Batchy for BYM putting in some physical tackles at the start. Lee Goodwin put in early long shots while at the other end the BYM goalie Charlie pulled off Sky Sports worthy saves. Free kicks were given away by both teams during the half which came to nothing. The No8 for Queen’s showed little respect for our boys as he continued to tackle and shoot whenever he had the chance. Towards the end of the first half Queens finished the stronger of the two teams with BYM’s No4 Glen stopping some of their runs. Matty, Lee and Batchy managed some late but wide shots to finish the half.
The second half opened with Andy’s BYM’s No 6 pushing hard at the start. Queen’s No3 managed to steal the ball and was awarded a free kick 25 yards out. He took an inch perfect free kick to beat Charlie as it tipped under the bar, 1-0 Queens.
The match restarted with yet more physical and fair tackles going in, no quarter was given and none asked. Mursa made good runs before being replaced by Tyler, and then Warren joined him in the middle of the park. The match went from end to end with corners and free kicks flying in from everywhere. But in the 25th minute of the half Lee Goodwin drove a low and powerful shot into the bottom left corner of the Queen’s net after a poor clearance.
Warren after executing some excellent clearing headers had to be replaced after sustaining an injury. The Queens No8 continued to harass the BYM midfield and was twice spoken to by the referee with regard to his tenacity! The match continued at a high pace and it looked as it was going to end in a worthy draw, but the drama did not end there. BYM won a corner and the clearance was met with a shot by Luke who made the defender attempt a diving header only to clear with his hands on the line, PENALTY. Lee Goodwin calmly placed the ball on the spot and stepped back, the referee blew his whistle and Goodwin thundered the shot beyond the keeper into the bottom left again, the whistle blew for the end and the U16’s ran onto the pitch to congratulate the U19’s victorious team, both side shook hands and walked off tired after an excellent game of watch able youth football.
BlackburnRovers F.C Academy Select V BYM U16’s
The U16’s were met with the daunting task of playing a team who had coaching facilities and staff way above what they could hope for back home, but thanks to Ali Bell, their coach and Ross Wilson his assistant on the trip the boys went out onto the pitch with confidence and pride only found in players from Northern Ireland!
Blackburn won the toss and kicked off putting BYM under instant pressure, tackles by Mark Brown and Davy Watkins made them realise they were in a real game. The back four made tackles and headers to clear defence and Chris Cree was big in goals. Josh Fleming and Adam French protected well as left and right backs, standing players up until support arrived.
A hard shot beat Cree to put the home team 1-0 up. Further attacks by Rovers were met by more tackles by Watkins, Brown, the two Fishers and saves by Cree. BYM midfield led by the skipper Karl Fisher, supported by Stephen Fisher, Jason McCracken, Shaw McClelland and Billy Muir pushed at Rovers to feed balls to Jamie Miller who stood up strong to the Rovers defence, shooting when open. Rovers won a corner, there was a deflection and they scored from a hardly touched header. A third goal came in during the half that was top draw from the Rovers front man which Cree could only get finger tips too.
Billy Muir and Adam French had shots that tested the Rovers keeper Ripley who is the son of Stewart Ripley a past Blackburn player. Mark Brown pulled off a Premiership nutmeg on the Rovers forward in his own half to raise a cheer from the away fans. Cree continued to keep BYM in the game only for three more long shots beat him as Rovers could not break down the defensive four of BYM.
During half time the two coaches decided to change things and Cree was given the opportunity to play for Blackburn Rovers as Keeper, he accepted the opportunity and BYM got Ripley in exchange, his experience and coaching helped BYM immensely in all areas of their game. Many Thanks Ripley, greatly appreciated. Jamie and Jason pulled off and broke up the Rovers defence, Mark and Karl continued to pass and play well until both were injured.
Second half replacements were made, Matty Patterson in the back four continued to hunt down attackers for BYM showing pace not seen before by this Young Man. William Heasley came on to stabilise the back four, putting in good tackles and clearing the ball long for the front men to chase. Shane Parkinson and Matthew Anderson tackled well and passed to feet to keep BYM in the game. Mason Watton on coming on had done every thing right when a low cross he deflected beat Ripley; a BYM player beats an Academy goalie. Glenn Wylie found himself free in the Rovers goal mouth, but Cree pulled off a point blank save to keep Rovers clean sheet. Taylor Jess had opportunities and Stephen Fisher rejoined the attack put nothing got through the defence or Cree.
Overall an excellent display by the BYM players who came off the pitch knowing they had played a great game against a top team who did not outshine them on a pitch that could potentially grace any ground in Northern Ireland.
Observations and Recommendations to North Down Borough Council
We as a youth team have just had an excellent weekend away playing on top of the range pitches against supportive teams backed by local councils and Government at every level of the Game.
We had the opportunity this weekend to play at Blackburn Rovers FC Academy. This is not a CountryAcademy or a CountyAcademy this is a Club academy which puts to shame anything we have here in Northern Ireland for our youth players. They as a Club have six training pitches, goal keeping areas, hill training and fully equipped gym, training rooms for teams and staff, conference rooms and parent areas. We take in consideration these players have inherited this ground from a senior team, but it was built many years ago, has been well maintained and upgraded over the years.
The future of Northern Ireland Football needs to be built on the youth of today and tomorrow, yet time and time again it seems that football is being placed on the back burner. North Down Borough Council now has the opportunity to become the driving force in this initiative to push for a dedicated FootballAcademy in Northern Ireland. We are aware that a fully equipped swimming pool has been planned for the visiting Olympic teams to use, presumably as training facilities only as there are no other facilities in the North Down area or as I am aware in Northern Ireland that can cater for the needs of the Olympic Committee for the London 2012 Olympics. The clue is in the title we believe.
The plan to accommodate this is to lose more football pitches from Bangor and the local area so this facility can be built, why? If the Council would take out the time to come down and see how much energy is put into youth football every Saturday they would realise where the potential for future money and investment could come from and not a short term pipe dream of an Olympic pool for one years use.
The plan is to spend 15 million of good money on this facility when no one has been asked if this what local teams and rate payers want. This money could be used to create a full time Northern IrelandFootballAcademy backed by all our top clubs. We could build long term training and changing facilities and accommodation to house teams from the mainland and the ROI for tournaments and tours as right now we do not have the facilities to return the invitation to Blackburn Rovers FC. The accommodation and the facilities would recoup the investment money through team bookings, tournaments and whilst outside the football season other sports could use the facility, unlike the planned pool as no other local sport i.e. rugby, hockey or cricket would have any use for it. The money could be used also on training coaching staff to help teams and players and build up an excellent feeder system for all our Premiership teams and our National team who are doing so well as a result of mainland club academies.
Your consideration and response to our suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.
Taff Watkins
Youth Chairman BYM
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