Antrim and Tyrone first county sides to reach Milk Cup finals

Antrim and Tyrone have become the first county sides from Northern Ireland to reach the Milk Cup finals in the 31-year history of the youth tournament.

County Antrim saw off Liverpool 2-1 at Portstewart and will face Everton in the Under-15 Junior Section decider.

In the Under-17 Premier Section, Tyrone's 2-0 semi-final win over CSKA Moscow puts them through to play Manchester United on Friday.

Four-times winners United beat Dublin club Cherry Orchard 3-1 at Coleraine.

Tyrone's clash with the Manchester United youngsters is bound to attract a big crowd to Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday night.

Mark Megarry's brace, either side of half-time, was enough to seal Tyrone's place in the final.

United raced into a 3-0 lead with quickfire goals inside the first 20 minutes against Cherry Orchard.

Oliver McBurney scored the opener after a nice one-two with captain Andreas Pereira, slotting his finish under the dive of Orchard keeper Michael Kelly.

A minute later United made it 2-0 through Joe Riley's close-range follow-up after Kelly had done well to save from Demtri Mitchell.

On 16 minutes, Northern Ireland's Jordan Thompson crossed for McBurney to net his second of the night.

Earlier, in an exciting Junior semi-final, Everton beat Watford on penalties after coming from three goals down to snatch an unlikely 3-3 draw.

County Antrim took a 2-0 lead over Liverpool thanks to goals from Brendy Glackin, with Connor Masterson scoring a consolation strike for his side.

THURSDAY'S SEMI-FINALS

Premier Section

CSKA 0-2 Co Tyrone

Manchester Utd 3-1 Cherry Orchard

Junior Section

Everton 3-3 Watford (Everton won 3-2 on penalties)

Co Antrim 2-1 Liverpool