U14 Girls: Div1. West Coast United 0 – 1 Colemanstown. With just the bare 11 players our U14 girls set off for Letterfrack on Sunday last. The tone for the game was set on route as the team bus was akin to a rolling karaoke party for the entire journey to West Coast United – singing, laughter, boom boxes and good vibes galore! The girls even managed a mini-hike at the foot of Diamond Hill, as their warm up! With regular keeper Lucy Butler unavailable, the manager resorted to some delicious negotiations ! – a caramel sundae from Supermacs was the bargaining tool in front of Emma Collins, who bravely agreed to don the gloves as stand-in keeper for the day. Tara Dillon was stand-in skipper & opted to play with the light breeze in the opening half. It was tit for tat for the first 20mins with both teams enjoying an equal share of possession. The hosts probably created more half chances but Emma Collins was well alert for a first timer in goals. Colemanstown’s first real sight on goal arrived not long before half time when Emily Rohan pounced on a loose ball and sent a speculative shot from 15 yards out soaring into the net, earning raucous applause from the Colemanstown sideline. Shortly afterwards Emily received a bang to the knee & was sidelined as a result & the bare 11 were now down to 10 players for the entire 2nd half in what seemed like a mammoth 2nd half task. The 2nd half began with our backs to the wall from the outset, as we expected. But the jovial mood on the way out added to our positivity although the hosts had the upper hand for most of the 2nd half. Our challenge grew even tougher 10mins after the restart when our tireless midfield engine, Muireann Roche, had to leave the field with an ankle injury. But our defence stood tall. Grace Connolly, Niamh Naughton, Kate Mitchell & Grace Jordan at the back put in a masterclass display. No other words does them justice. Ailbhe Burke & Evelyn McDonnell up top, together created a few half chances & with 10mins to go Evelyn burned down a valuable few mins with an exceptional run from midfield. After a 10min spell on the sideline nursing her ankle injury, the lion-hearted Muireann Roche returned to the field for the final 10 mins, gritting her teeth and hobbling through midfield despite the pain. Our best 2nd half chance fell to Maddie Rohan who picked up the ball on the right wing, dribbled towards the box but the ball bobbled as she was about to strike & her finish agonisingly just grazed the post. With persistent defending from Colemanstown the game petered out, but not before Emma Collins in goal made an outstanding 1-on-1 save. The final whistle sounded as sweet as the victory itself as Emily Rohan’s strike proved to be the key moment in a game of few opportunities. Buoyed up by the 1-0 win, it was a loud but joyous bus trip home. Match report: Niall Rohan
Squad: Emma Collins, Grace Jordan, Kate Mitchell, Grace Connolly, Niamh Naughton, Maddie Rohan, Muireann Roche, Emily Rohan, Tara Dillon, Ailbhe Burke, Evelyn McDonnell.
U12 Boys Championship 2. Colemanstown Utd A: 2 – 4 Bearna na Forbacha B. Our U12 boys welcomed Bearna na Forbacha to Colemanstown in the aftermath of Storm Darragh. BnaF were first to strike after 5 mins when their striker ran onto a through ball to finish past the helpless Phelim Flynn in goals. The visitors hit 2 more identical goals in the next 10 mins as a slow start looked like it was going to be a bad day at the office for the Colemanstown boys. The lads responded well and scored from a corner brilliantly delivered by Jack Grealish and Conor Egan scored his first goal for Colemanstown Utd. The boys dominated the remainder of the half with some excellent passing and control of the game by Oisin Flannery, Jamie Lally and George Moore. Our back 3 of Aaron Burke, Conor Egan and Matt Feeney were also well in control of the Bearna boys, while Evan Molloy was causing all sorts of chaos to the visiting defenders. 3-1 at the break. A rejuvenated group took to the field for the 2nd half with the introduction of Kerrill Walsh in goals, James Kilkenny in midfield and Eoghan O’Neill upfront. Colemanstown piled on the pressure but the goals eluded the boys while BnaF had a couple of half chances. Mark Shaughnessy, Chris Burke and Ethan Monahan came in to provide fresh legs and keep the pressure on. In a passage of 15 minutes of play, Colemanstown hit the crossbar twice and had 2 excellent shots saved superbly by the Bearna keeper. The pressure finally paid off as Evan Molloy finished off a well worked move. Colemanstown piled on the pressure in an attempt to grab an equaliser but with virtually the last kick of the game the Bearna striker latched onto a loose ball and hit a wonder strike into the top corner leaving Kerrill Walsh with no chance of stopping it. Match report: Adrian Burke
Matchday squad: Phelim Flynn, Aaron Burke, Conor Egan, Matt Feeney, George Moore, Oisin Flannery, Jack Grealish, Jamie Lally, Evan Molloy, Kerrill Walsh, James Kilkenny, Eoghan O’Neill, Mark Shaughnessy, Chris Burke, Ethan Monaghan.