Ulster Boys came from behind to beat Wales 4-1 in the 2023 Talent Academies Festival this morning.
Goals from JJ Holley, Jack Mulholland, Lukas Moles and Ethan Clotworthy were enough to seal the first win of any Ulster side at the tournament.
It wasn’t the ideal start to the game as Wales took an early lead with just six minutes played. However, just before the end of the first quarter, a brilliant solo effort from Bangor’s JJ Holley levelled the scoring.
The forward beat his man at the top of the circle before executing a thumping reverse strike which clipped the crossbar as it flew past the goalkeeper.
From there the young Ulster side went from strength to strength as they continued to pepper the Welsh goal. Eventually, their work paid off as two minutes before the half-time break Jack Mulholland gave them the lead.
A perfectly executed team move which began at the back was worked into the penalty area where Mulholland was on hand to pick out the bottom corner.
As play entered the third quarter Ulster picked up where they left off before the break.
Creating chance after chance they were unfortunate to not extend their lead with one short corner hitting the post before another came off the crossbar.
However, eventually, their luck changed. With just four minutes left to play in the fixture, Ulster won another short corner which was slipped right to Lukas Moles.
Moles took the shot on despite being at a tight angle and managed to drill his effort low and hard, picking out the far bottom corner to make it 3-1.
With such little time left on the clock, there was still time for one more Ulster goal which came from Ethan Clotworthy.
The move again started from a short corner, however, the Welsh defence initially dealt with the danger before Ulster won the ball back and re-launched their attack.
The ball was then played across goal to Clotworthy at the penalty spot who was on hand to pick out the bottom corner and round off the game and a 4-1 victory.
