A brace from Sean Hansberry and a late goal from Michael Flattery was enough to seal the points for Colemanstown’s U14’s against Cregmore today. On a day when most pitches were unplayable with the deluge of rain last night Cregmore had their turf in perfect condition so compliments to them in ensuring this game was played. A delay in kick off saw some sideline entertainment provided by Johnny Mullins to amuse both players and supporters. The stiff cold breeze blowing cross field meant difficult playing conditions for both teams, but they stood tall and both teams put in a massive display.
Colemanstown had the first real chances as Sean Hansberry’s cross found Micháel Ryan but his header was off target while 2 mins later Mark Donnellan did the donkey work for Ryan Noone but the wind held up his shot right at the butt of the post. Michael Flattery had the ball in the net on 14mins after connecting to a through ball from Ryan Noone but was adjudged to be offside. On the stroke of 30mins, a sliding Mark Donnellan was millimetres away from connecting to a beautiful cross from Ryan Noone, had it found the net it would have been sublime. Moments later Hansberry opened Colemanstown’s account from a Ryan Noone corner with a well taken strike from close range as Liam Gormally & Mark Donnellan added to the build-up. Just before half time Mike Kelly’s long ball set up Noone who skipped past two defenders, found himself one-on-one with the keeper but the keeper was equal to the task to leave the score 1-0 to Colemanstown at the break.
2 mins after the restart Ryan Noone’s corner was defended well by Cregmore, only to fall kindly for Mike Kelly whose powerful effort from well outside the 18’ box hit the butt of the post. Colemanstown had a period of sustained pressure with shots from Conor Byron, Michael Flattery & Mark Donnellan but neither had enough power in their shot to poke it over the line. At this stage both teams had the rain to contend with as well as the breeze which made for even tougher playing conditions. 15mins into the 2nd half saw the introduction of Conor Moran who immediately got on the ball as he threaded a sublime ball in behind the Cregmore defence for the inrushing Ryan Noone which was cleared by Cregmore only as far as Sean Hansberry who by this stage had covered every blade of grass on the pitch, and his powerful drive from almost 25yards took a deflection before finding the net to keep the momentum with Colemanstown.
With 14mins to go Hansberry found Michael Flattery whose effort from the edge of the 18’ box was powered over the crossbar. With 10 full revolutions of the clock to go Cregmore had a good chance, albeit, in a crowded box but the greasy ball was well held by Jason Connolly. Then, Conor Byron set up Michael Flattery who got his eventual reward with a super effort leaving the Cregmore keeper with absolutely no chance. Mike Kelly was unlucky with a high lobbing shot from the edge of the 18’ box. His smile afterwards painted a ray of sunshine over his face which showed us his effort wasn’t too far off target. The final few minutes saw some good pressure from Cregmore as Jason Connolly had to pull off 2 great saves.
The sound of Ned’s whistle at the end was sweet music to the ears of both teams and mentors as a reprieve from the cold and the rain was more than welcome. This was a great squad performance as Liam Gormally, Daragh Hansberry and Liam Molloy cleared their lines time and time again. Micháel Ryan & Conor Byron made things happen on the wings while Mike Kelly, Sean Hansberry, Ryan Noone & Michael Flattery were creative from start to finish while Mark Donnellan also showed his worth with some good holding and passing of the ball. Conor Moran got on plenty of ball on his introduction; Josh McGuire-Greaney was also a threat up front while Luke Lally also played his part in what was a good overall squad performance by David Gilligan & Edmund Flannery’s young charges.
Our reserve game away to Merlin Woods and our ‘A’ team game at home to Merlin Woods were postponed today due to unplayable pitches.