The Lion Cup.

[FantasyIreland]

Finished Ajax 4 City 2.

I'm sure it will have done the lads no harm,great experience and maybe we've spotted a talent or two from the other teams.....

 

[FantasyIreland]

From OS.
--------------------
City u15s quest for the Canon Lion City Cup trophy came to a disappointing end at the Jalan Besar stadium after a 4-2 defeat.

The introduction of the tournament’s top-scorer Ezra Walian proved to be the turning point in a topsy-turvy encounter.

City had a two goal lead going into the half-time break but a brace from Walian and a goal each for Nouri and Cerny mean that City will contest Sunday’s third/fourth place play-off.

Surprisingly, Ajax opted to leave out their star striker from the starting line-up and that plan had appeared to back-fire after just nine minutes, when Aaron Nemane put the Blues ahead with his second goal of the tournament.

Centre-back Joshua Murray was instrumental in the creation of the goal on nine minutes. There was a sting of passes in the City midfield before Murray’s marauding run took him through the Ajax defence and his cross was inch-perfect, picking out Nemane on the back post who arrived to smash home from an acute angle.

City’s second goal followed just five minutes later – a teasing corner from Adam Robinson was turned into the Ajax net for an own goal by Guido Janssen.

Ajax seemed unable to live with the pace and incision coming from City’s wide areas in the first period. Robinson and Humphries showed why they’ve recently been called up for England u15s by bombing on from full-back to support wingers Wassi and Nemane on the flanks.

At 2-0, the next goal of the match was always going to be important and it was Ajax who found it, courtesy of a cool finish from second-half substitute Walian after he was played in behind the City defence.

It got worse for City just two minutes later, when Walian again made an intelligent run to get in behind and this time the striker fired a powerful effort under Brad McDonagh to level the score.

The 15-year-old could have completed a 10-minute hat-trick had it not been for the quick reactions of Brad McDonagh in City’s goal, who somehow managed to claw out his effort in the 50th minute.

Credit to City, they showed character to react and force Josh Meendering into a couple of good saves after losing their two goal lead but it was to be Ajax’s night.

First, Captain Nouri curled the ball into the far corner from the edge of the box, before they grabbed a fourth through Cerny from close range with 15 minutes remaining.

This match represented the toughest assignment for the team since arriving in Singapore – Ajax’s reputation for producing their own players is without equal, so there’s no shame in bowing out of the competition at this stage.

City will play in the third/fourth place play-off on Sunday before Ajax contest the final against Singapore u16s or Vasco da Gama

 

[FantasyIreland]

Much to the delight of the home supporters, the NFA U16 put up a dominating performance to stamp their place in the final of the 24th Canon Lion City Cup with a 4 – 0 victory over CR Vasco da Gama U15.

The Singapore side found themselves with early possession as they moved the ball from side to side with quick pace and it was no surprise that play-maker up front, Adam Swandi (no. 10) found the net after a cut back from strike partner Rashe Rahman (no. 9). The pairing in attack proved to be a handful all night for the Brazilian side who could not cope with their trickery and interchange play.

Vasco got a slight hold on the game as Matheus da Silva and Luan Martins enjoyed a series of passing moves but could not penetrate the cubs defence resulting in Evander da Silva (no. 8) shooting from distance on a number of occasions.

After the break it was Rahman (no. 9) once again who cropped up to score the 3rd goal after fantastic dribbling and unselfish play from Swandi (no. 10). It went down hill for the Brazilians after that when goal keeper Vinicius da Oliveira could not hold on to a cross and enterprising midfielder Iqram Rifqi (no. 3) capitalized on his mistake to send the home crowd into a frenzy and seal the NFA U16 spot in the final against AFC Ajax U15.

Other fixtures on the 1st of July, 2012 include: 5th and 6th Placing – FC Porto U15 vs NFA U15 3rd and 4th Placing -Manchester City U15 vs CR Vasco da Gama U15

 

[bluesmith]

City finished 3rd after beating Vasco 3-1 with 13 year old Lukas Nmecha setting one up and scoring the other two.

 

[FantasyIreland]

City finished 3rd after beating Vasco 3-1 with 13 year old Lukas Nmecha setting one up and scoring the other two.

From OS.
Posted by Mark Booth

City u15s signed off on their Canon Lion City campaign with a 3-1 win over Vasco da Gama.

A Lukas Nmecha brace and a fine strike from Callum Bullock fired City to a third-place finish in the 24th Canon Lion City Cup, their second victory over the Brazilian side in a week.

City have scored first in every match of the competition so far and the third place play-off was no different, as Callum Bullock ran onto a clever flick from Lukas Nmecha, opened his body and curled the ball around Vinicius in the sixth minute.

Despite the early goal, it was an understandably low-key start to the game - as third place play-offs often are - but City showed how comfortable they can be in possession, setting the first 20 minutes to a tempo you might have expected from the Latin opposition.

However, this early composure gave way to a degree of sloppiness in City’s passing which allowed Vasco to grow in confidence and level.

A defensive mix-up on 30 minutes presented Joao dos Santos with a gilt-edged opportunity and the forward made no mistake in slotting coolly past Grimshaw.

City had Grimshaw to thank for not going in at half-time behind. Vasco’s star man Matheus da Silva curled a wonderful effort from the right corner of the penalty box which was destined for the top corner until Grimshaw produced a stunning fingertip save to push the ball onto the crossbar.

The City keeper’s reflexes were tested again on 46 minutes when Evender da Silva struck sweetly from 30 yards and Grimshaw was equal to it, tipping it over the crossbar.

The Blues capitalised on the save by going up the other end and taking the lead immediately – 13-year old Nmecha found a pocket of space and headed an Aaron Nemane cross into the corner of the net.

It was the same combination that produced City’s third of the evening a few minutes later – a classic counter-attack goal which saw Nemane charging over the half-way line, picking the perfect moment to feed Lukas Nmecha who slid the ball in at the keeper’s near post for his third goal of the tournament.

There were a couple of nervy moments at the back in the final 20 minutes as Vasco desperately chased a second but City were worthy winners on the night and can reflect on an enjoyable and successful spell in Singapore.

City will return to the UK on Monday night in preparation for the 2012/13 season after two weeks of tournament football that will surely aid their development as players.