PREMIER
THERE will be a new winner etched on the Premier trophy of the SuperCupNI after County Londonderry and Tigres UANL from Mexico sealed their place in the decider.
Marty Smith’s Londonderry side pulled off the shock of the tournament to beat a strong Manchester United side on penalties at a raucous Coleraine Showgrounds.
The county were 1-0 down due to a Shea Lacey penalty in the first half until added time when Alfie Friars gave them their just rewards with a brilliant header from a corner delivery.
In what was a feisty encounter, goalscorer Lacey and Nathaniel Mapengu were sent off for the Red Devils, who also failed to keep their cool in the penalty shoot-out. Londonderry scored all four of theirs to book their place at the Ballymena Showgrounds final.
Keeper Harry Pearson was the hero, saving James Bailey’s penalty before Jayce Fitzgerald missed to seal United's fate.
There won’t be an all-county final at Ballymena though as County Antrim were on the wrong end of penalty drama at Riada.
Mexican side Tigres edged past Antrim 5-3 in the shoot-out after the game finished 1-1 in normal time.
The Mexicans led at the break through Gustavo Gonzalez before Ryan Donnelly equalised in the second half to take the game to penalties.
Londonderry will take on Tigres at Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday (6pm).
There was an all-county clash in the Globe semi-final with County Tyrone coming out the victors over County Down.
A brace from Calum Lenehan-Hunter helped his side beat Down 4-1 at Parker Avenue.
This win tees up a final against Rangers on Friday after they defeated Japanese side Ichifuna 4-2.
The game was 1-1 at the break before the crowd at The Heights were treated to five second-half goals.
After his hat-trick yesterday, Christopher Eadie went one better at The Heights scoring four to make him a strong contender for the Golden Boot in the premier section.
The Vase semi-finals threw up plenty of penalty shoot-out drama, with both ties going to spot-kicks.
Both games finished 2-2 after normal time with Irish outfit St Kevin’s coming out 6-5 victors in the shoot-out against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The tournament newcomers from England will now have to play in the Vase third-place play-off against fellow English side Newcastle United on Friday.
Newcastle also lost on penalties, to Fermanagh at The Warren. Guy Bloomer kept up his goalscoring form but the north-east side ultimately lost 3-0 on spot kicks in Portstewart.
The Bowl final will be contested by County Armagh and American outfit Surf Select (Friday, Limavady Showgrounds, 6pm) after wins over Dundalk Schoolboys and Northeast Rush respectively.
The county were the big winners of the section, defeating their Irish opponents 5-1. Armagh’s Dominick Ambroziewick scored once again in the win to take his tally to three goals.
Surf Select’s 2-1 win over their fellow Americans was their first taste of victory in the tournament and their first goals, which were both scored by Alex Perkin.
JUNIOR
West Ham United are back in the Junior final for the first time in 25 years after they edged past fellow English side Plymouth Argyle at Seahaven in Portstewart.
The Hammers broke Argyle’s hearts with a 4-1 victory in the shoot-out.
Xavier Parker scored a brace for the Hammers, while Billy Devlin and Aubry McClennon scored for Argyle to take the game to penalties at Seahaven.
The London side will play County Antrim in the final at Coleraine Showgrounds after they downed County Armagh in the same fashion.
Like the first semi-final the game ended 2-2 in normal time before Antrim won 7-6 on penalties. Eamon Tohill starred for Antrim scoring a brace to help his side take the game to spot-kicks.
Joel Kerr had a day to remember for County Tyrone at The Heights. Kerr, who is joint-second in the Golden Boot charts, scored four goals to take his tally for the tournament to six.
The winger scored in last year’s Minor final against Surf Select and will be looking to do the same this year when Tyrone take on neighbours County Londonderry in the Bowl final at Parker Avenue.
Londonderry reached the final thanks to a 2-0 win over Donegal Schools at Clough.
There was more county success in the Vase as Down saw off Scottish side Kilmarnock to reach the final.
Zach Cowan and Stephen Kelly got the goals to take their side to the final, which will be at Broughshane.
They will face Scottish side St Mirren after the Scots beat FC America 4-3.
Tyrone’s Kerr wasn’t the only boy to score four on Thursday as Luke Douglas for St Mirren raced to the top of the scoring charts with four of his own, taking his goal return for the tournament to seven.
Charlton Athletic came out victors in an all-English affair in the Globe, defeating Stevenage 4-1 at Broughshane.
The London outfit triumphed thanks to goals from Harry Bingham, Chibizo Okoli, Harry Randall and Lesecond Yeutembip in a game that saw Alfie Robinson receive his marching orders for Stevenage.
They will face Canadians Prospects 2 Pro Academy in the final (Friday, Anderson Park, 2.30pm) after they dismantled Scottish giants Rangers 3-0 at Anderson Park.
Andreas Zaprianov stole the show with two goals for the Canadians
MINOR
GLASGOW Celtic have their sights set on a first-ever win at the tournament as Cayden Anderson grabbed a goal either side of half-time to seal their place in the final against Dungannon United Youth.
Anderson scored a magnificent opener, before sealing the deal in the last minute, skipping around four Belvedere defenders before firing home a low shot into the net.
Their opponents on Friday (Coleraine Showgrounds, 11.30am) will be Dungannon United Youth, who held their nerve to beat Scottish opponents Kilmarnock 4-1 on penalties after a goalless 60 minutes
The Globe final will be contested by between Surf Select and Glenavon after they downed Linfield and Glentoran respectively.
Lurgan Blues youngsters Ryan Moore and Austen Gault both scored a brace to book their place place in the Globe final at Anderson Park against Surf Select, who defeated Linfield 4-0.
Odhran McHugh kept his hopes of the Golden Boot alive with his fifth goal of the tournament in Finn Harps' 3-1 win over Larne. They will play Portstewart in the Vase final after the Seahawks beat Warrenpoint Town 4-0 at Parker Avenue.
IDA Bermuda’s Zydon Lightbourne-Furbert raced to the top of the goal scoring charts with a brace on Thursday against Ballymena United. It wasn’t enough for his Caribbean side though as they lost 3-2 to the Sky Blues and Lightbourne-Furbert’s day got even worse when he got a sent off for a second bookable offence. This means the striker will have to hope no one overtakes his six goals tomorrow to claim the golden boot. Ballymena will face Loughgall in the Bowl final after the Irish side edged past Coleraine 1-0.
