Final pain from 12 yards for County Armagh but pride in 'unbelievable' journey at SuperCupNI
County Armagh’s dream SuperCupNI week finished in final disappointment from 12 yards but coach Jack Ross declared the record-breaking run “an unbelievable achievement”.
Defeat at Coleraine Showgrounds over a penalty shoot-out against Brighton and Hove Albion could not detract from the high praise by Ross at his players’ overall progress in the boys’ Premier Section.
"They were excellent tonight, but they've been superb all week,” said Ross following Friday’s showdown. “To get through to the SuperCupNI final for a county like Armagh, the smallest county in Northern Ireland, it's an unbelievable achievement.
"We had obviously talked about trying to be history-makers by going on and winning it, but they were history-makers on day three when they topped the group for the first time and they were history-makers when they made the final.
“We have two players involved in the Northern Ireland set-up and they're both a year young.
"The rest of the players are involved with the likes of Glenavon, Portadown, Loughgall and Dungannon and a bit of Linfield and Cliftonville representation, but the bulk of them are from the Mid-Ulster area.
"I feel these kids always get overlooked but I hope today they weren't overlooked or cast aside because I feel they are sometimes.
"They have done everybody proud, we're extremely proud of them. Although that final push didn't go and it will hurt for a long time, it's still something we are very proud of them for...they just need to take it to the next step of their journey now.
"They are looked after incredibly well by their clubs, they have to go back to their clubs now and carry on their journeys."
Brighton broke the deadlock within the opening minute but County Armagh regrouped and recovered to level before a final push failed to produce a decisive goal and the showpiece occasion went to a penalty shoot-out.
"I said to them at half-time that when you concede after 40 seconds in a cup final with a crowd that size and the occasion but come in at 1-1 at the break and show that character is unbelievable,” said Ross. "We had no doubt that they had the character to push themselves on in the second half to go on and win it.
"We hit the bar, had a number of goal line clearances (by Brighton), most of the half-chances were coming our way...it just didn't fall and that's the unfortunate bit.
"It's anyone's when it goes to penalties...the five boys who took the penalties, for me that's one of the bravest things you could do to step up in front of this crowd (and) whether they scored or not, to me, they're still superstars."
Ross had praise for the preparation work ahead of involvement in the global youth tournament week.
"It's a monumental effort that goes into it,” he said. “We had over 100 kids at the trials and we had to whittle that down to 18 to build a squad.
"We had nine different clubs represented so we had to put them together and make a team of it to play against teams who have maybe been together for three or four years.
"In terms of our structure and defensive shape I thought we looked like a team that had been together for years.
"It's been a big effort and a huge thank-you goes to our committee as they have been outstanding, they put so much effort in behind the scenes.
"Our coaching staff as well have been outstanding...they are double-jobbing as they are doing pre-season with their clubs as well.
"It's a tough gig and when you get to Friday everyone is exhausted.”
Ross views the week overall as having marked another step forward for Northern Ireland’s county squads.
"You look at Londonderry, they were the benchmark from last year,” said Ross. “Antrim have obviously won it before and now ourselves getting to the final and going so close, so it's not just that one county is dominating.
"We played two county sides this week and the quality and standard of those games was fantastic...County Down were excellent on Thursday, and I thought any neutral watching that as a semi-final should have been really proud of what Northern Ireland football is showing with these young players.
"You look at the Antrim game on Monday and the crowd that came out, it was another excellent game and they went on to have a great week too.
"County Londonderry beat Manchester United in the final today as well so that shows you that for these kids it is so important that this competition continues to thrive and gives them this platform because the opportunity it brings and the experiences they get are amazing.”