Willowbank under 19s faced reigning league champions Aquinas on Saturday as the Bank looked to continue extend their 100% record and mount a title challenge of their own this year. Willowbank were forced into a number of changes both in personnel and in their formation as they were without a number of defenders and this 3-5-2 formation seemed to catch Aquinas off guard as the boys from the Falls started the game brightly, moving the ball about at a decent tempo when in possession and pressing high when off the ball. This good work ethic was epitomized by the three centre midfielders Brain Kennedy, Sanchez and Savo as they tirelessly shifted across the park to support attacks and cover in defense when required. There was a number of chances created early on in the game as the Ryan McAreavey & Stu time after time beat a number of players in wide areas before providing delivery to Dee Curran & Sean Elliott. It wasn’t long before Willowbank made good on their start to the game when slick passing through the middle of the park ended with a lay off from Stu to skipper Sanchez on the edge of the box with just enough time and space to get his shot away as he opened the scoring for his side. Willowbank stayed on top as Aquinas struggled to get a foothold in the game with solid defending from the makeshift backline of Mini, Emmet Llewellyn & Conor Loughran proved more than a match for any attacks that did get through the midfield. However the game was to be put level from the spot against the run of play when the referee gave a penalty for reasons only he knows as no one from the away side called for a penalty to undo Willowbank’s good early start. The Bank didn’t let the heads drop after conceding as they just got back into the rhythm again forcing a number of saves from the opposition goalkeeper. As the game went on the corner count grew and from a corner the ref again gave a penalty for which no player called for maybe to level up on his previous contentious decision. However Sanchez failed to capitalize on the decision as he dragged his effort from the spot wide of the goal. The boys from the Falls could have been forgiven if they started to feel sorry for themselves but they showed great character to ensure their good start and hard work didn’t count for nothing when from a free kick McAreavey hang a great ball up at the back post for Willowbank number 9 Elliott to meet with a great header which he powered past the keeper and put his side back into the driving seat. The pressure didn’t let up after Willowbank got themselves in front as the pacey widemen kept both full backs on their toes and from a break down he right when the Aquinas attack broke down due to a good interception from Kennedy before moving the ball to Sanchez who opened up play with a great through pass to McAreavey who latched onto the ball before pulling it back to Stu who was in the right place at the right time and had the simplest of finishes to apply to end the half at 3-1. The second half started much as the first went with Willowbank looking sharp and dangerous on the front foot and they were to extend their lead when Willowbank broke on the counter down the wing, Aquinas thought they had repelled the attack when they cleared the cross however Sanchez was lurking around 25 yards from goal as he hit an unsaveable first time shot with some venom that flew past the keeper and into the bottom corner. The game went into a bit of a lull After the Banks forth goal as they just looked to keep possession without really trying to open up their opponents and Aquinas grew into the half as they showed great heart and commitment to get themselves back into the game with 20 minutes to go. Willowbank looked a completely different team than was seen the first hour of the game as they panicked on the ball, forced passes, failed to track runs and generally looked tired and Aquinas could see this and felt they could grab something out of this game and got their 3rd goal to make it a tense last 10 minutes for the reds. However Willowbank did weather the storm and claimed all 3 points from the game to make it 5 wins from 5 in a great start to their 2014/15 campaign. Men of the match Ryan McAreavey who was a thorn in the side of Aquinas all day and assisted his team mates for 3 of the 4 goals & Christopher “Mini” Heaney who showed great versatility for the winger turned full back turned centre half! As the we man swept up behind his defensive partners to ensure his keeper Gerard Marley had little to do. Squad: GerardMarley, Christopher “Mini” Heaney, Conor Loughran, Emmet Llewellyn, Nathan “Sanchez” Garland-O’Neill, Michael Savage, Brian Kennedy, Ryan Mcareavey, Kevin Stewart, Sean Elliott, Michael McAlourm & Aarron Cush.
