Our U12s travelled across the bridge yesterday morning for what was always going to be a huge test against a Mooncoin side who came into the game unbeaten in 11 matches. With the league race beginning to heat up, the importance of the fixture was not lost on anyone, and the lads responded with one of their best performances of the season.

From the very first whistle we were on the front foot, pressing high, moving the ball quickly and pinning Mooncoin back inside their own half. The intensity and work rate from the lads set the tone early and it felt like only a matter of time before the breakthrough arrived. After a sustained spell of pressure, the opening goal finally came when the ball was bundled over the line following good attacking play.

Despite the lads controlling large parts of the first half, Mooncoin managed to grab an equaliser somewhat against the run of play. A ball over the top wasn’t fully dealt with and the Mooncoin attacker finished well, although Ben was extremely unlucky not to keep it out after getting a strong hand to the effort.

At 1-1 the response from the squad was outstanding.

The second half had barely started when Jake Murphy latched onto a ball over the top and made absolutely no mistake, firing us back into the lead. Jake carried his excellent form from Saturday’s U13 match into today’s game and he wasn’t finished there. His second goal was the pick of the bunch as he brilliantly controlled the ball before producing a superb left-footed finish into the corner of the net.

With the team now full of confidence and completely dominating the game, Jake completed a superb hat-trick with another excellent strike to make it 4-1 and effectively put the contest beyond doubt.

The fifth goal arrived following a scramble from a corner kick, with the ball eventually ending up in the net and looking likely to go down as an own goal. We continued to push right until the final whistle and could easily have added more, with both Finn Kehoe and Oisin going close only for the Mooncoin keeper to pull off a number of excellent saves.

Overall this was a massive result for us against a side that had not tasted defeat in 11 games, and it could prove to be a hugely significant win in the title race. The win leaves us sitting one point clear with five games remaining, while also holding two games in hand over our nearest challengers — including one against the current second-placed side.

Attention now turns to Thursday evening where we welcome Carrick at home.

A huge thanks as always to all the coaches, players and parents for the continued support throughout the season.