Carn U17s all set for big national youth cup clash

Carn FC's U17s are flying the flag for Donegal as the county's sole remaining team in the FAI New Balance National Cup.

The St Patrick's Park boys take on Dublin's Phoenix FC in Carn this Saturday (ko noon) to battle it out for a place in the quarter finals of the prestigious youth competition.

Having beaten QPS, Sligo's Strandhill and Limerick's Cappamore Rovers in the previous rounds, this young squad face their toughest challenge yet, but manager Marty Harkin believes his players will stand tall come the kick-off.

He told Donegal Live: "We initially thought we were going into an U16 competition, as a lot of our boys are still quite young, but we thought 'we'll give it a go' and they've done really well.

"It has given them an opportunity to play teams from outside Inishowen, and after realising they measured up well they now have the confidence to believe they can go further.

"Being a Dublin side, we know we can expect Phoenix to be physical and have plenty of technical ability. But we have a lot of technically gifted players ourselves and they're not shy in a tackle.

"The best football I saw them play was against Sligo. The boys got the ball down and their movement and passing was excellent.

"Fingers crossed we'll see more of the same on Saturday. It won't be easy, but one thing I know for sure is that they will be well accounted for and not be pushed over."