It’s been a busy month so far for our young Academy players, with games coming thick and fast for our Olympics side, under-18 Academy League and under-18 National League sides.
Last night, Larne Olympic travelled to Seaview to take on Crusaders with a number of first team players getting involved in order to increase their match fitness. Andrew Mitchell, Jeff Hughes, Navid Nasseri, Matty Lusty and Michael Argyrides all made the starting team, alongside Odhran McCart who recently received international recognition with Northern Ireland Schoolboys, and Development Squad regulars Caolan Donnelly, Conall Curran, Ryley D’Sena and Ethan Simpson.
While the more senior players played a part in the game, it was Matty Lusty and Conall Curran who got the goals for Keith O’Hara’s side in a 2-2 stalemate. The result follows last week’s narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Linfield Swifts, with Australian Scholar Ryley D’Sena finding the net for a much younger side on the night.
In their most recent outing, our Academy League side travelled to the Ballymena Showgrounds, returning with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Caolan Donnelly and Shea Brennan. The result saw the young Inver Reds return to goalscoring form and an improved performance, following a 4-0 defeat to Crusaders at the beginning of February, sending the team into this Friday’s home fixture against Cliftonville Strollers full of confidence.
Our under-18 National League side have enjoyed a strong end to January and first half of February, recording victories over Institute (2-1) and Rosario (3-0). A trip to Dungannon Swifts awaits on Friday night, kick-off 8pm.
