A Northern Ireland Under-14 squad competed well in their first set of international matches.
The squad, largely made up of players on the Irish FA’s National Academy Programme, travelled to Albir in Spain to face Spanish academy side Elche and national sides from Spain and Qatar.
In game one they took on Elche, with goals from Michael Mulholland, Michael Ihmig and Will Megaw helping them to a 3-1 win. Eoghan Mallon, playing on the left flank, was the standout performer.
The second game was against a strong Spain side, who took the lead after just three minutes through a Fabio Dominguez strike.
Spain went 2-0 up 10 minutes later through the impressive Tiago Polo. Northern Ireland recovered well and had some good moments in the first half but couldn’t make them count and went in 2-0 down at the break.
In the second half Spain upped the tempo and the pressure told on 53 minutes when Hugo Chacon finished off an impressive move.
Despite being under a lot of pressure Northern Ireland showed good character and worked hard to defend well. They were helped by some impressive saves from goalkeeper Luke Bellingham.
Spain added two further goals in the last 10 minutes as the Northern Ireland team began to tire in the intense heat. Gael Palomar converted on 72 minutes and Ricardo Perez scored a superb goal in stoppage time.
In their final game Northern Ireland faced a Qatar U15 team who had drawn 1-1 against Spain in their first match.
The first half was a tight affair with Qatar making their physical advantage count and pressing aggressively, although the Northern Ireland team defended well.
U14s head coach Michael McClean made a number of changes at half-time and after the break Northern Ireland looked more dangerous at the top end of the pitch and started to create a few more opportunities.
Midway through the half substitute Michael Mulholland raced onto a through ball and showed good pace and strength to force his way into the box and finish into the bottom corner from an angle.
Ten minutes later Northern Ireland doubled their lead when Will Davison was fouled in the box and Mulholland calmly converted the resultant spot kick. Northern Ireland went on to win the game 2-0.
After the camp McClean said: “The camp was a really good learning experience for the squad.
“It is important to expose our young players to top level opposition so they understand the level and standards they must get to in order to compete against these teams. This experience will help the group as they continue their development through the pathway.”
The Northern Ireland U14 squad for the games in Albir featured: Luke Bellingham (Ballymena United), Kaysan Braniff (Linfield), Corey McCartney (Linfield), Gus Murdock (Manchester United), Daithi Holleran (Crusaders), Cohen Ennis (Crusaders), Cruz Devlin (Crusaders), Michael Ihmig (Celtic), Luca Hall (Ballinamallard United), Michael Mulholland (Linfield).
Also: Conleth O’Neill (Linfield), Eoghan Mallon (Loughgall), Eoghan Rafferty (Cliftonville), Will Davison (Crusaders), Luca Lavery (Crusaders), Noah Henderson (Linfield), Calum Evans (Linfield), Hunter Beattie (Linfield), Aidan Hamill (Loughgall), Will Megaw (Glenavon).
Action from game against Spain
