An intriguing opening fixture saw tournament hosts Northern Ireland face Scotland. An early chance from Ethan McCabe tested the Scottish defence before a misplaced Lewis McConnell goal kick allowed Kingston Bryars to intercept, putting Northern Ireland 1-0 up seven minutes into the first half. 

A few half chances from Scotland were well thwarted by Ellie Brown, who maintained a calm presence in the Irish defensive box. 15 minutes into the first half, a kick-in from Kingston Bryars picked out his teammate, Bartek Kuszkowski, who combined beautifully with Ethan McCabe to carve out an opening between Lewis McConnell and Connor McCole in the Scottish box, putting them 2-0 up. 

Three minutes into the second half, Ethan McCabe combined well with his right-hand winger, Kingston Bryars, who found recently substituted Ben Thompson at the back post. With his first involvement in the Tournament, Thompson guided the ball past the Scotland keeper, making it 3-0. 

Following a slight tactical adjustment and a substitution (Kein Speed on for Robbie Martin), Scotland looked brighter in the second half, forcing Northern Ireland keeper Ellie Brown into several saves on her defensive goalline. With one minute remaining, a Kein Speed kick-in for Scotland did superbly well to pick out Nicky Duncan in the Irish box to register their first tournament goal; 3-1, it finished.

Northern Ireland squad: Ellie Brown, Ethan McCabe, Kingston Bryars, Bartek Kuszkowski. Subs: Ben Thompson, Daire Gorman, Carl McVeigh 

Scotland squad: Lewis McConnell, Conor McCole, Nicky Duncan, Robbie Martin. Subs: Kein Speed

In the second fixture of the day, England faced Ireland. 

Ireland did exceptionally well in the opening minutes of the tie to fend off a fierce England attack and carve out a few opportunities for themselves.

With four minutes gone, Kyle Alexander worked the ball well to his right-hand winger Dan Riby, who guided the ball to the back post, where Lewis Harris was there to capitalise, putting England 1-0 up.  

Throughout the first half, Ireland’s defensive set-up worked tirelessly to limit the time and space of the England players. The side were unfortunate not to capitalise on miscommunication between Gregg Baxter and Kyle Alexander on 14 minutes to get back in the tie. 

A late England corner proved the undoing of Ireland; with Lewis Harris guiding a ball to his teammate Kyle Alexander in the centre of the court, who squeezed the ball between Matthew Crowley and Sean Cuddy to double their advantage approaching the half-time interval. 

In the second half, a slightly adjusted Ireland side did superbly well to limit England’s opportunities but were unfortunate not to carve out any real chances of their own. The tie finished England 2-0 Ireland. 

England squad: Gregg Baxter, Kyle Alexander, Dan Rigby, Lewis Harris. Subs: Tom Kelly, Patrick Kelly & Dylan Kelsall.

Ireland squad: Matthew Crowley, Sean Cuddy, Dylan McLoughlin, Fionn O’Longaigh. Subs: Lucas Gorman, Isiah O’Driscoll & Tommie Thornton.

Following the lunchtime break on Saturday, Northern Ireland took on England. Both secured a win and three points in their opening fixtures of the tournament, making this one an exciting clash. 

Northern Ireland’s team remained unchanged from their earlier victory over Scotland. England adjusted slightly for their second fixture of the day, with Dylan Kelsall replacing Kyle Alexander in the middle and Patrick Kelly starting his first game on the wing in place of Dan Rigby. 

Ellie Brown and Ethan McCabe were placed under a sustained spell of England pressure in the fixture, doing extremely well to keep the England attack at bay. With six and a half minutes played, a misplaced Ellie Brown goal kick was intercepted well by Lewis Harris, who opened the scoring for England. Just before eleven minutes, a drilled shot from England keeper, Gregg Baxter ricocheted between the chairs of Lewis Harris and Ellie Brown, eventually trickling over the Northern Ireland goalline to double England’s advantage. 

If it wasn’t for some excellent defending from Ellie Brown for Northern Ireland, England would have been out of sight approaching the halftime interval.

With six minutes remaining in the second half, Kyle Alexander and Dan Rigby combined well in the Northern Ireland box to seal a 3-0 win for England. 

Northern Ireland squad: Ellie Brown, Ethan McCabe, Kingston Bryars, Bartek Kuszkowski. Subs: Ben Thompson, Daire Gorman, Carl McVeigh 

England squad: Gregg Baxter, Kyle Alexander, Dan Rigby, Lewis Harris. Subs: Tom Kelly, Patrick Kelly & Dylan Kelsall.

The last fixture on Saturday was a matchup between Scotland and Ireland. Having both succumbed to earlier defeats, this one promised to be a closely matched fixture.

Following some early pressure from Scotland, the sides seemed to cancel each other out in a cagey affair. With twelve minutes on the clock, Ireland began to mount pressure on Scotland when a driven shot from Matthew Crowley was well saved by Chris Jacquin. Shortly after, an Ireland corner, taken by Matthew Crowley, found Dylan McLoughlin in the middle, whose guided shot ricocheted off the right-hand post into Kein Speen’s chair onto the Scotland goalline; the referee deemed it to be fully over the line, giving Ireland a 1-0 lead. 

With almost an immediate reply, a Scotland freekick in the Ireland half, taken by Kein Speed, found Nicky Duncan unmarked in the penalty box, whose goalbound attempt was cleared initially by Matthew Crowley, but the rebound fell kindly to Connor McCole, who levelled the tie. 

Both had their share of chances in the second half, the most notable being a last-minute penalty to Scotland, which Matthew Crowley saved. 1-1, it finished! 

Scotland squad: Chris Jacquin, Conor McCole, Nicky Duncan, Kein Speed. Subs: Robbie Martin, Lewis McConnel

Ireland squad: Isiah O’Driscoll, Tommie Thornton, Dylan McLoughlin, Fionn O’Longaigh. Subs: Lucas Gorman, Matthew Crowley & Sean Cuddy.

To kick off Sunday’s action in the development EPFA Home Nations Cup, the travelling and watching fans were treated to a fierce local rivalry between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Both were battling for a spot in the EPFA Home Nations Cup final.

Ireland had the better of the early chances, penning Northern Ireland back in the first half. Superb defending from Ellie Brown and Ethan McCabe prevented opportunities from Dylan McLoughlin and Matthew Crowley. 

With 17 minutes on the clock, a Matthew Crowley corner found Dylan McLoughlin with time and space in the Northern Ireland penalty box, whose superb 180 shot was too accurate for Ellie Brown on the Northern Ireland goalline; 1-0 Ireland. 

Some tremendous early pressure in the second half from Ethan McCabe saw him dispossess Sean Cuddy in the Ireland defensive box, allowing him the space to pick out recently substituted Kingston Bryars on the right-hand side of the penalty box to level the tie; 1-1! 

Despite continual pressure from Ireland throughout the second half, Northern Ireland managed to see out a 1-1 draw, booking their place in the EPFA Home Nations Cup final! 

Ireland squad: Sean Cuddy, Matthew Crowley, Dylan McLoughlin, Fionn O’Longaigh. Subs: Lucas Gorman, Isiah O’Driscoll, Tommie Thornton.

Northern Ireland squad: Ellie Brown, Ethan McCabe, Ben Thompson, Bartek Kuszkowski. Subs: Kingston Bryars, Daire Gorman, Carl McVeigh.

In the final matchup of the group stage, Scotland faced tournament leaders England. Following three minutes of sustained England pressure, a Gregg Baxter corner found Patrick Kelly at the back post to put the tournament leaders 1-0 up.

Despite some resolute defending from Scotland, England maintained the pressure and another well-worked chance from Gregg Baxter rebounded off Lewis McConnell, falling kindly to Kyle Alexander to put England 2-0 up. Scotland deserved huge credit for their fantastic defensive display, preventing any further damage in the first half.

Three half-time substitutes for England saw the introduction of Lewis Harris, Dylan Kelsall and Dan Rigby, with Scotland adjusting slightly, bringing on Nicky Duncan in place of Chris Jacquin. It wasn’t long before England’s substitutes combined to make it three when a Lewis Harris set-piece did superbly well to find Dylan Kelsall unmarked at the back post. Shortly after, the England pair combined again to produce one of the goals of the tournament, with slick back and forth passing resulting in a superb rotated finish from Dylan Kelsall; 4-0 England.

For the third time in succession, a connection between Harris and Kelsall proved the undoing of Scotland with Kelsall securing another fantastic goal and his first international hattrick; 5-0. With five minutes remaining a miscommunication between the Scotland defenders allowed a kick-in from Gregg Baxter to find an unmarked Kyle Alexander to make it 6-0. England capped off a superb performance with a late Dan Rigby finish at the back post; 7-0.

Scotland squad: Lewis McConnell, Chris Jacquin, Robbie Martin, Kein Speed. Subs: Connor McCole & Nicky Duncan.

England squad: Tom Kelly, Kyle Alexander, Patrick Kelly, Gregg Baxter. Subs: Lewis Harris, Dylan Kelsall & Dan Rigby

In the weekend’s penultimate fixture, Ireland faced off with Scotland in the EPFA Home Nations Cup third-place play-off. Having played out a brilliant matchup the day before, this one promised to be an intriguing one 

Despite some positive early pressure from Scotland, Ireland were the ones to take the lead, through a fantastic Isiah O’Driscoll finish. Approaching the half time interval, most meaningful attacks from either side were met with equally resolute defences.

In the second half, a misplaced control from Matthew Crowley allowed Connor McCole the opportunity to exchange some accurate passes with Kein Speed on his right-hand side, leading to a Tomie Thornton error in the Ireland goal, giving Scotland the opportunity to level the third-place play off; game on!

Scotland will feel disappointed with the manner in which they conceded a second with eight minutes remaining. Some sustained pressure from Ireland placed Fionn O’Longaigh deep in the Scottish box, whose relentless, patient work managed to guide the ball past a helpless Chris Jacquin, securing his side the bronze medal! 

Ireland squad: Tommie Thornton, Matthew Crowley, Dylan McLoughlin. Subs: Fionn O’Longaigh, Lucas Gorman & Sean Cuddy

Scotland squad: Chris Jacquin, Kein Speed, Connor McCole & Nicky Duncan. Subs: Lewis McConnell & Robbie Martin

The highly anticipated EPFA Home Nations Cup final saw unbeaten England face tournament hosts, Northern Ireland. 

Despite a bright start from Northern Ireland, a Dan Rigby England corner on three minutes found Kyle Alexander in the middle, whose guided shot evaded Ellie Brown and Ethan McCabe. It wasn’t long before an identical corner on the right-hand side saw Dan Rigby pick out Kyle Alexander again to double England’s lead.

In the second half, a well-worked opportunity between Dylan Kelsall, Lewis Harris and Dan Rigby saw England register their third goal in the tournament final. Despite the relentless pressure, Northern Ireland’s defence did well to limit the damage of England’s potent attack throughout the second half. With seconds remaining of the second half, a well-worked move from England saw Kyle Alexander guide a driven pass diagonally across the box of Northern Ireland to find Patrick Kelly, who sealed the title; 4-0.

England squad: Gregg Baxter, Kyle Alexander, Dylan Kelsall, Dan Rigby. Subs: Tom Kelly, Lewis Harris & Patrick Kelly

Northern Ireland squad: Ellie Brown, Ethan McCabe, Bartek Kuszkowski & Kingston Bryars. Subs: Daire Gorman, Carl McVeigh & Ben Thompson