Tristar Boys go for glory in Northern Ireland Under-11 Cup Final

A Derry team has made it through to the final of the Northern Ireland Under-11 cup final.

Tristar Boys will take on the mighty Glentoran Academy in the final in Lurgan next Monday, May 1.

The game kicks off at 3.45pm.

The local junior football club has a proud tradition in the NI Cup competition and their Under 11 representatives will be hoping to continue that success next week.

The local boys booked their place in the final with a tough semi-final victory over Dungannon.

This is the first time for a number of years that Tristar  have reached a Northern Ireland Cup Final but manager, Kenny Crockett, believes they face a ‘colossal task’ to win the trophy.

“This is my second year as manager of this team,” said Kenny who has guided the team to a number of finals during that time and also won the Blackpool Cup 2016 last season.

“We have been very fortunate in that we have reached a few finals in the last year but without doubt this has been our most difficult passage so far.

“Credit must go to the full squad of players who have overcome very difficult opposition in every single round.”

Their epic journey began back in October 2016 when they were drawn against local rivals, Limavady Utd, recording a 7–0 victory.

Up next was a home tie against Enniskillen Rangers.

Again, the young Tristar squad warmed to their task, recording an impressive 11-0 victory.

In the next round, they faced another local team in Brightstars.

At 0-0 at half time Tristar stuck to the task and ran out 5-0 winners to let up a mouth-watering clash with Irish League team Cliftonville’s Academy team.

At this stage, Tristar knew they had a stern obstacle to overcome.

However, after a tight first half with chances for both team, Tristar took control in the second half and grabbed a quick goal through Mc Laughlin.

Cliftonville scored late on to set up a penalty shoot out, with Tristar’s Tejan-Se slotting away the deciding penalty.

Next up was a journey to Bangor to face their academy team, Castle Juniors, and the boys were disciplined and totally up for the challenge and they secured a comfortable 6-1 victory to send them into the semi-finals.

The semi-final draw pitted Tristar against another Irish league academy team in Dungannon, in what would prove a very hard fought semi–final against an extremely well organised and physical Dungannon.

Mc Laughlin gave Tristar a deserved lead midway through the first half, latching on to fine through ball from midfield.

This was clearly not going to be enough for the Derry lads as Dungannon pressed for an equaliser and this came just before the stroke of half-time.

Tristar came out determined in the second half with a loose ball from a throw-in coming across the box which was met perfectly by Doherty to add a goal worthy of winning any football match at any level and which proved decisive as Tristar deservedly held on to book their place in the final.

Coaches Brian O’Neill and Xavier Prigent also heaped praise on their players for their endeavour throughout the entire campaign.

“It has been an extensive and taxing campaign but the attitude of the boys since the start has made it all worthwhile,” said O’Neill.

Prigent added: “They have trained vigorously every week and deserve success. We have seen the boys grow as a team during the campaign and it would be a great reward for all their hard work if they were able to bring the NI Cup home to Derry next week.”