Manchester United Start With A Bang As Sons Of Carrick And Rooney Shine On Opening Day Of Premier Section

The Premier section of the Budget Energy SuperCupNI kicked off today with all eyes on the Riada Stadium, where Manchester United got their campaign underway against West Cork Academy. 

With the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans all coming through the competition to forge out great careers at the top, fans turned out in their droves to see the new generation of red devils. They were all the more excited when they saw the names Rooney and Carrick in the travelling panel, Kai and Jacey the sons of United legends Wayne and Michael respectively; and those in attendance were not to be disappointed with the result as the English side ran out 3-0 winners.

In a largely one-sided affair, the Reds opened the scoring on five minutes after a fine goal from Samuel O’Brien, who controlled a cross from the right, before he slammed it high into the top right-hand corner of the net.

16 minutes later and it was Rooney who stepped out of his father’s shadow and scored his side’s second. The striker drilling home a spot-kick beyond the Cork keeper.

The scoring was completed halfway through the second period when captain Abdoulaye Bassirou Nkoto scored from close range after a mix-up in the West Cork defence to leave the travelling United fans happy with the win.

Elsewhere, at the Coleraine Showgrounds, it was a repeat of last year’s final between Brighton and Co Armagh. And it was to be the same outcome with the English side coming out on top 2-1. 

Despite a bright start to the game from the local side, it was Brighton who went in front through Fraser Widdop. Co Armagh almost came straight back into the game through a smart free-kick but were denied by the keeper. 

Then, Brighton grabbed a second through Micah Gordon-Douglas after a smart lay-off from his striker.

Armagh did grab one back through Matthew McAdam but it was too little, too late as Brighton held on.

Elsewhere, in the local derby, Co Londonderry saw off Antrim 2-1, whilst Co Tyrone lost heavily 5-1 to Scottish side Rangers.

There was to be local success for Co Down who had a superb 4-2 win against Intercontinental FA, but Co Fermanagh went down 3-0 to Bournemouth. Southampton defeated Ichifuna 2-0 and Hamilton drew with Mexican side Tigres UANL 1-1 to round off an exciting first day’s action in the Premier section.

Boys’ Premier Section Results

Monday 28^th July 2025 

Co. Down 4 v 2 Intercontinental FA

Co. Fermanagh 0 v 3 AFC Bournemouth

Hamilton Academical 1 v 1 Tigres UANL

Southampton 2 v 0 Ichifuna

Co. Tyrone 0 v 5 Rangers

Manchester United 3 v 0 West Cork Academy

Co. Antrim 1 v 2 Co. Londonderry

Brighton and Hove Albion 2 v 1 Co. Armagh

For more information and fixtures, visit the Budget Energy SuperCupNI website: www.supercupni.com.