Mens Development vs Eskvale 2

For the 2nd week in a row, FAL MDevs had a properly youthful look to it, with no fewer than 8 of the 12 outfield players aged u18.

Eskvale had a similar number of youth players, and both teams contributed to a really entertaining match, with both sides ensuring the young players were involved as much as possible.

Eskvale took the lead when a push into the circle was delected home, but FAL quickly equalised when Mike chased a lost cause to keep the ball in play, drove along the baseline and played the ball to the back post where it was tapped home by Alexander.

The home side took the lead when Alfie battled away in front of goal to flick over the keeper, although it did look as if the ball had hit an FAL foot in the build up. This was quickly cancelled out when Eskvale scored from close range, although the ball across goal was clearly stopped by an attacking foot. 1-1 on questionable goals, and 2-2 at HT.

Despite a lot of good attacking play from both sides, the only goal of the 2nd half came from the trusty stick of Arthur, diving in at the back post to deflect home at a PC.

Although it was a win on the day, the performance of the youngsters was the most pleasing outcome. Archie had a great game with tenacious tackling and excellent ball carrying skills, Alfie linked up well in the final 3rd and created chances, and Alexander got into great positions and listened to feedback, whilst Sam and Tom put in great shifts defensively for 70mins.

Another positive was Malachy making his debut after recovering from a broken collarbone.

🏑 Alexander

🏑 Alfie

🏑 Arthur

🏆 tbc