A group from 2nd Ahoghill Company Section watched Manchester United take on French side Vendee, in the Milk Cup Premier Section final last night.
We had arrived at the Ballymena Showgrounds slightly earlier than the 8:15pm kick off, and caught the tail end of the Northern Ireland team’s celebrations after defeating Canada in the Elite Section final.
The match we had come to see was the culmination of the Under-16’s Premier Section, which had seen 24 teams from Northern Ireland and around the world compete in a series of 36 matches.
On their way to the final, Manchester United had faced Australian side Gold Coast Academy, County Armagh and CSKA Moscow. Vendee had played against Chertanvo Academy from Russia, a Craig Bellamy Foundation team and County Antrim as they progressed to the final.
The match kicked off at 8:15pm, and Vendee started the livelier of the two teams, with a series of attacking ventures into the Man Utd half. However the Red Devils weathered the storm and started to make their way into the match with a few attacks of their own.
Overall the first half was a close contest, with the clearest chance coming from a Manchester set piece. The free kick, from the right hand side of the box, fooled the French side’s keeper and dipped at the last minute to thunder against the crossbar.
Manchester United continued to build the pressure throughout the second half, and the deadlock was broken on 56 minutes. Demetri Mitchell chipped the ball over the advancing Vendee keeper, allowing Cameron Borthwick-Jackson to nod his header into an empty net. Despite a late Vendee free kick causing a scare, Man Utd held onto the one goal advantage to claim the win.
The victory meant Manchester United retained the trophy they had won the previous year, and took their total Dale Farm Milk Cup Premier Section final wins to five.
