2009
2009 Players of the Year
OYDG Players of the Year 2009 pictured with coaches and OYDG Chairman pictured at presentation ceremony in Picky - November 2009
Players of the Year for 2009 were:-
Under 11's - Joe Wilson
Under 12's - William Humphreys
Under 14's - Lee Wilson
Under 16's - Thorfinn Stout
Caithness U14's 0 Orkney U14's 3
On Saturday 17th October a team of 13 players travelled to Thurso to play Caithness for their last game of the year. A new trophy had been donated to the fixture to add extra incentive. This was connected to a local youth team known as Louisburgh Utd, formed in the late 40s who often travelled to Orkney in those days for friendlies and the favour was often returned with matches in Wick. The trophy was in memory of 2 former players who were nephews of one of the founder members of the club.
The game itself was played in excellent conditions and Orkney started very strongly putting Caithness under pressure from the start. This resulted in a goal from Aiden Milne being controversially disallowed after the keeper had dropped a cross ball and failed to recover before the ball was put in the net with the linesman indicating a foul on the goalie.
After the dismay of the decision Orkney again continued to press with Taylor and Murdoch posing problems down both flanks. Another cross ball this time went to Milne again who made no mistake, 1-0 to Orkney.
The game then became quite physical and on more than one occasion the referee was penalising the home team for some late challenges and shirt pulling on the Orkney boys. This continued and the referee became more and more reluctant to show any yellow cards to players who repeatedly lunged in to challenges and went in late on the Orkney players. The team and coaches alike were becoming incensed by this and this resulted in a flashpoint between a player going in late behind Dowell who reacted angrily and lashed out at the Caithness player,receiving a red card.
So down to ten men Orkney regrouped and duly scored a second goal from yet another cross which Drever headed home with the whistle then blowing for the interval.
H-T Caithness 0 Orkney 2
A few words at half-time and again Orkney started brightly, with McLean rising to a cross to make it 3-0 to Orkney. Play then descended into more of the same with rash tackles again going unpunished and Drever being booked for challenging the ref on one such tackle. However, Orkney maintained their organisation and were galvanised as a team to thwart any threat from the home team. Linklater was called on to make two fine saves but the team were winning comfortably. The whistle blew for the end of the second thirty minutes and the game was then to be played in two additional 15 minute periods which the ref had failed to inform the Orkney coaches about prior to the game. Despite this, Orkney continued to be the stronger team with substitutions allowing all the boys to get a good run out and duly were deserved 3-0 winners.
Coach Ritchie Brunton expressed his delight at the team's performance after going down to 10 men but was equally relieved that all the players came through unscathed. Orkney were the team who tried to play football in the proper manner throughout and each player deserves credit for this. While the physical aspect at times overshadowed proceedings, this in no way should take away the achievement of the boys on the day.
Orkney Under 14s pictured in Thurso before playing Caithness - 17 October 2009.
Caithness U12's 3 Orkney U12's 1 (a.e.t.)
On Saturday 17th October the Under 12's also travelled to Thurso to play Caithness. The team played well on Thurso's all-weather 3G pitch despite losing 3-1 overall.
Both sides had a number of chances in the first period of play and Orkney opened the scoring. Caithness then equalised with a good cross. The score was therefore 1-1 at the end of the 60 minutes play.
Caithness then scored a further two goals in the 20 minutes of extra time
All players played well but particularly good performances came from William Humpreys, Ryan Sutherland and Kieran Docherty.
Peter Morrison Memorial Cup
Shetland U16's 2 Orkney U16's 1
On Saturday evening (30th August) the U16s played Shetland at Seafield Park, Lerwick in what turned out to be a fantastic game.
Orkney started the stronger of the two teams and deservedly took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half after some excellent play just outside the box by Thorfinn Stout saw his low shot go in off the post. After this every 50-50 challenge was awarded to Shetland and with the Orkney boys starting to show their frustration. They allowed their concentration to be affected resulting in Shetland equalising with a cheap goal from a throw in.
Half time 1-1
At the start of the second half Orkney had to make a substitution as DJ Moffatt was struggling with a shoulder injury. This was a big blow to Orkney as DJ and Thorfinn were controlling the midfield and were by far the best players on the pitch.
From then on Shetland started to control the match but Orkney hung in there well and only a superb goal worthy of winning any match eventually beat the Orkney keeper for Shetland to win 2-1.
Man of the match for Orkney was Thorfinn Stout with superb performances by Lewis Ross, Hamish Flett and DJ Moffatt.
Next morning Orkney U16s played Shetland U15s.This match turned out to be a little bit of an anti-climax for the Orkney boys with a few of them carrying knocks from the night before. They played the game at about three quarters speed and ended up losing the game 4-1.
Orkney Under 16s pictured in Lerwick before playing Shetland - 30 August 2009.
John Manson Trophy
Shetland U12's A 4 Orkney U12's A 0
On Monday morning (31 August) the Under 12 county matches were played. First game up was the U12 A game, at stake was the John Manson Trophy with a close game expected after a 2-2 draw between the teams earlier this year in Orkney.
The game started with Shetland taking centre and scoring the opening goal with only 25 seconds on the clock. From then on Orkney struggled against bigger opponents and they also looked very tired, but credit to Shetland as they deservedly ran out 4-0 winners playing some very good football.
Man of the match for Orkney was Thorfinn Miller closely followed by Fergus MacIvor.
Orkney Under 12s A pictured in Lerwick before playing Shetland - 31 August 2009.
Shetland U12's B3 Orkney U12's B2
Next up was the U12 B game which Orkney won earlier this year 4-0 in Orkney. The first half was played with both teams cancelling each other out. Orkney went ahead with a long through ball by Steven Low to Scott Wilson who managed to beat the offside trap to go through and score to put Orkney 1-0 up. Shortly after this Shetland equalised with exactly the same type of goal to end the first half 1-1 .
The second half saw a change to the game with Shetland starting to control it and with some good play deservedly took a 3-1 lead. Orkney then made some tactical changes which saw the game change again and were soon rewarded when Liam Delday ran through from the middle of the park to score a great solo goal. Unfortunately from an Orkney point of view there were no more goals and Shetland won the game 3-2
Man of the match for Orkney was Joe Wilson closely followed by Liam Delday.
Orkney Under 12s B pictured in Lerwick before playing Shetland - 31 August 2009.
J W Thompson Memorial Trophy
Shetland U14's 1 Orkney U14's 4
On 23 August, Orkney Under 14's football squad travelled to Shetland to defend the J W Thompson Memorial Trophy. The game was played on the Sunday evening at Seafield and despite the wet and windy conditions the pitch was in excellent condition. The game itself could not have been scripted better as Orkney won 4-1 to regain the trophy.
Orkney started the brighter of the two teams and took the lead in the opening ten minutes when some neat passing in midfield allowed Kyran Taylor to dispatch an unstoppable shot into the top corner. With the wind at their backs Orkney failed to capitalise on this and credit to Shetland for putting the visitors under pressure as half time approached. It was played in a very competitive manner and McLean and Sutherland were in the thick of it in the centre of midfield but the Orkney team were more than a match physically. Towards the end of the half Penwarden was booked for a rash tackle but Orkney dealt with the resultant free kick to lead 1-0 at half time.
Into the second half and Shetland pushed for the equaliser which duly arrived after some slack marking. The home team were on the ascendency and Linklater was called on to produce an excellent save low to his right to deny the home team. However, this seemed to spur Orkney on and they again took the lead when Liam Drury rose from a corner to head home. This knocked Shetland out of their stride and some wreckless tackles followed which produced an Orkney free kick on the edge of the box. Lee Wilson duly scored direct from the free kick much to the delight of the coaches and players alike. Orkney continued to control the game and an excellent piece of interplay between Taylor and Lee Wilson allowed the latter to score his second from a neat through ball. Orkney finished the game strongly and ran out winners by four goals to one with the trophy presented at the end of the match to captain Darren McLean.
Man of the match for Orkney was left back Liam Drury.
Overall, coaches R. Brunton and D. Ryrie were delighted with the attitude of the boys, particularly as it had been a long day waiting for the evening match. Every member of the squad deserves credit for their contribution to the win especially after Shetland equalised but it was a solid all round team effort and they can be extremely proud of such an emphatic win in Shetland.
Victorious Orkney Under 14s pictured with the J W Thompson Trophy after defeating Shetland - 23 August 2009. (Photo - R. Brunton)
John W Shearer Cup
Orkney A 3 (Liam Delday 2, Ciaran Drever) Shetland B 0
Orkney B 3 (Archie MacPhail 2, Sam Croy) Shetland B 1
Orkney A 7 (Ciaran Drever 4, Liam Delday 2, Joe Wilson) Shetland A 0
Orkney B 1 (Sam Croy) Shetland A 1
Players of the Day
Orkney A - Joe Wilson
Orkney B - Connor Archibald
Orkney Under 11s pictured with the John W Shearer Cup after defeating Shetland - 24 May 2009. (Photo - G. Wilson)
Back (l-r) Kieran Learmonth, Connor Rendall, Ciaran Drever, Liam Delday, Craig Drever, Steven Low, Joe Wilson, Owen Harcus, Mark Muir
Front (l-r) Sam Croy, Archie Macphail, Ben Stout, Fraser Dowell, Toby Macleod, Ruth Clark, Robert Sinclair, Magnus Stevens, Connor Archibald
Highland Football Academy
On the weekend of 23/24 May the Under13 football team paid a visit to the Highland Football Academy inDingwall for a series of games involving Shetland Western Isles, Caithness, Ross County, Dingwall and Clach, in what was a hard programme for the boys as they had to play 3 games on Saturday with each game lasting one hour.
First game was Clach v Orkney. This game turned out to be all about chances with Orkney creating more chances than Clach but failing to score but everytime Clach had a chance they scored to win the game 4-0 . Overall poor finishing and defensive mistakes cost them in a game the coaches felt they could have won.
Next game on was Western Isles v Orkney. In the first half Orkney again had quite a few chances but no luck and found themselves 2-0 down at half time. In the second half Orkney started playing a lot better and a cross resulted in a own goal by the Western Isles to make the score 2-1. Orkney then started to control play and after some good play Liam Drury scored to put Orkney level at 2-2. The game ended with Orkney putting the Western Isles under a lot of pressure but they could not find the winner. Overall a brilliant second half from the boys but defensive errors in the first half cost them.Last game of the day was against Ross County. Orkney made a poor start going 2-0 then they started to play getting one back with an excellent header from captain Ben Sutherland. Orkney continued to match Ross County and got a deserved equaliser through Aiden Milne with a good shot. Unfortuately for Orkney as the game went into the final 10 minutes the boys really started to tire and lost thee goals at the end. Overall the coaches were happy with the performace apart with defensive errors again costing Orkney early in the match.On the Sunday Orkney had one more game before heading north to catch the boat. This game was against Dingwall and again Orkney made a poor start going 2-0 down before they started to play good football. Simon Louden got us back into the game with a good strike. Simon was then unlucky not to equalise with a shot that went just over the bar only for Dingwall to go straight up the park and score to make it 3-1. With no further scoring the game ended 3-1 to Dingwll. Again defensive mistakes early on cost Orkney but the coaches felt the 3-1 defeat was a bit harshAt the end of the trip the Orkney coaches were pleased on the effort the boys put in but the defensive performance by the team was poor. Orkney had the samallest squad with quite a few U12s travelling and 3 games in one day along with a few injuries made it a very tough trip but a good experience for them.
Clach 4 Orkney 0
Western Isles 2 Orkney 2 (o.g., Liam Drury)
Ross County 5 Orkney 2 (Ben Sutherland, Aiden Milne)
Dingwall 3 Orkney 1 (Simon Louden)
Orkney Under 13s pictured at the Highland Football Academy, Dingwall - 23/24 May 2009. (Photo - G.Wilson)
2009 SQUADS
OYDG UNDER 11 SQUAD 2009
Connor Archibald, Ruth Clark, Sam Croy, Liam Delday, Fraser Dowell, Ciaron Drever, Craig Drever, Owen Harcus, Kieran Learmonth, Steven Low, Toby Macleod, Archie Macphail, Mark Muir, Connon Rendall, Robert Sinclair, Magnus Stevens, Ben Stout & Joe Wilson.
OYDG UNDER 12 SQUAD 2009
Kieran Docherty, Reece Durward, Orran Fraser, Andrew Harrold, William Humphreys, Fergus MacIvor, Seamus Mackay, Thorfinn Miller, Joe Moar, Ronan Osborne, Jack Patterson, Logan Peace, Taylor Pilkington Tait, Craig Russell, Jason Scott, Alex Stevenson, Ryan Sutherland & Scott Wilson.
OYDG UNDER 13 SQUAD 2009
Samuel Parkinson, Daniel Swannie, Chris Macdonald, Ben Sutherland, Owen Merriman, Craig Russell, Kyle Drever, Jack Stout, Sam Spence, Aidan Milne, Grant Campbell, Liam Drury, Simon Louden, T Pilkington Tait, Ryan Sutherland, Thorfinn Miller, Logan Peace