A busy weekend was had for our academy, with five of our teams in action across Saturday and Sunday. We caught up with each group to see how they got on.
MU14 – CK United FC 1-4 Waterford FC
Our U14s got off to a quick start against CK United on Sunday with a goal from Ethan Owens after just three minutes played. The game quietened down after that for the rest of the first period with a few opportunities to double the lead arising. Into the 2nd period Waterford again controlled most of the period with long passages of possession. However CK equalized though an OG which gave some life to CK and tired to apply pressure for another before 2nd period came to an end.
Moving into the final period Waterford kept again to control the game and pushed to look for another goal to retake the lead. Temmy Gazal offered the solution with not one but two goals in quick succession to extended lead to 3-1.
Despite the two goal lead Waterford kept playing and finally added a fourth goal though Aaron Brennan from distance to see out the game with a 4-1 victory to Waterford.
“It was a great team performance for the lads. It great to get our first win of the season under our belts, but the performance was what we are focused on. Throughout the whole game we kept playing our way and doing the right things. That eventually paid off for us with us scoring goals. For us now it’s again about building on from this performance midweek in training and into the next game. We have so much room to keep growing and developing as a group which is exciting. But for now it’s about getting back onto the training ground and working with lads again in preparation for the weekend” – Xander Coolbear (Head Coach).
MU15 – CK United FC 4-2 Waterford FC
Our MU15 side fell to a 4-2 defeat away to CK United on Saturday afternoon in Burrin Celtic. After finding themselves two-goals ahead after the first-period with goals from Bobby Keoghan & Jake Barcoe, the hosts got back into the game with four unanswered goals to pick up the points.
A tough defeat, but the young squad will learn from it and no doubt bounce back in the coming weeks.
“The loss was obviously not the result we wanted. We had some good spells in the first 30 but I felt we were a bit lacklustre and once we went 2-0 up, I felt the desire and fight wasn’t as strong and credit to CK for battling their way back into the game to win it” – Nils Lukaku (Head Coach).
MU17 – Waterford FC 1-1 Wexford FC
Our U17 side drew 1-1 on Sunday against Wexford FC in a much improved team performance from their previous outing. Matt Barrett scoring for the second week in a row. There was definitely an increased appetite for work rate and ball retention quality across the squad , particularly exemplified by Matt Barrett, Alan Zborowski, Jan Wozniak and Jay Brophy, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Special mention to Orion Cala and Ryan Butler who both made their Under 17 League of Ireland debuts.
MU20 – Waterford FC 3-0 CK United FC
A hard fought 3-0 win for our U20 side on Saturday afternoon at SETU Arena. Dylan Warren opened the scoring in the 59 minute after smart play from Calum Flynn out wide. Three minutes later, Evan Geary added to score-line as he found the back of the net. The lads found their rhythm and the next goal came just two minutes later as Calum Flynn slotted for the home side to give the Blues all three points on the day.
WU19 – Waterford FC 2-1 CK United FC
Our u19s women got their 2024 campaign off to a winning start on Sunday beating CK United 2-1 at SETU Arena
In what was always going to be a tight physical encounter, Waterford started the brighter in the opening 20 minutes enjoying the majority of possession and creating a number of half chances through Zara Corcoran and Cathranne Fitzgerald which were unlucky to see go the wrong side of the post.
CK at the other end creating chances of their own which were well dealt with our defense. We deservedly took the lead on 20 minutes in which a fantastic corner by Lilly Holloway ended up in the back of the CK net. CK struck back on the stroke of half time through a free kick which was initially well saved by Ciara Kelly only for it to drop to the feet of a CK player to make it 1-1 at half time.
The second half was a tight affair with both teams looking for that important goal to go ahead. We were rewarded from our efforts on 71’ minutes after Zoey Croke won a free kick wide on the left. Emma Rossiter delivered an amazing ball which was met by the head of Clíona Kearney to put an unstoppable header past the CK keeper to put us 2-1 up. The last 20 minutes CK to their credit keep applying pressure to get the equaliser but again our defence stood strong and kept out these attacks. We created a couple chances in the closing moments to extend our advantage but the game finished 2-1. Overall shading a deserved win.