Colemanstown U18 Boys 2 – 4 Knocknacarra SFAI Cup. This was a game of two halves, dictated by the breeze making it far from the perfect day for soccer, but it was Knocknacarra, the visiting team that went home feeling it was a beautiful day.! That said our lads gave it 110% in very tough conditions. Knocknacarra drew first blood and opened the scoring on 7mins with a quick counter attack and got past the Colemanstown defensive line to fire past Fionn Flattery who had an outstanding game in goals. Colemanstown though settled & a super crossfield pass from Cathal Kennedy found Shane Quirke who beat the offside trap, took one touch before slotting under the keepers legs on 14mins. Knocknacarra scored again 10mins later following a throw ball which was worked into the box, Knocknacarra took a shot which was parried by Fionn Flattery and the rebound was hammered home. The next 15mins was a back and forth affair with both defenses holding strong. Knocknacarra regained the momentum early in the 2nd half when they capitalised on a defensive error to make it 3-1. From here on Fionn Flattery came of age with every kinda save imaginable – punching, parrying, point blank, one-handed & diving saves as the visitors had the wind at their backs & pushed forward on every opportunity but Josh Buckley, Ross Lally, David Walsh & Sean Connolly were resolute in defence. With 11mins to play, Colemanstown clawed one back after a foul on Josh Buckley who was redeployed up front. Kyle Madden took the free kick which the keeper parried onto the post and deflected into the goal with a helping hand of the woodwork. Suddenly the Colemanstown crowd were roaring, spearheaded by Grainne Lally as the lads threw everything at it for the last 10mins to keep the game exciting. Unfortunately they got caught late on as Knocknacarra capitalised on a break to finish 4-2 winners. Match Report: Martina Donnellan
Squad: Fionn Flattery, Josh Buckley, Ross Lally, David Walsh, Sean Connolly, Conor van Oosterhout, Cathal Kennedy, Matthew Keane, Donnacha Walsh, Shane Quirke, Kyle Madden, Tyler Collins, Jamie Nutley, Nathan Mannion, Joshua McDonnell, Fionn Campbell.
Colemanstown U16 Boys SFAI Cup – Colemanstown United 1 – 5 Kilmurry FC. In a thrilling encounter at the U16 Boys SFAI Cup, Kilmurry FC emerged victorious with a commanding 5-1 win over Colemanstown United. The match, held at Colemanstown’s home ground, there was great display of skill, strategy, and determination from both teams and perhaps the final score did not tell the full story of the match. The game kicked off with high energy from both sides. Kilmurry FC quickly established their dominance, with their midfield controlling the pace of the game and with a very strong midfield. The first goal came in the 10th minute, through a well worked move from Kilmurry’ s forwards. Despite several attempts and continued good plays, Colemanstown struggled to break through Kilmurry’ s solid defense. Kilmurry doubled their lead with an intricate move through their midfield and forward to make it 2- nil. Colemanstown were making some good plays of their own, with Paddy Gavin and Martin Mellody on the right flank but could not break through a very solid defense. As the first half was ebbing away, Kilmurry found the net for the 3rd time, a very tough 0-3 scoreline for the boys, but a glimmer of hope was brought back when Martin Mellody came up with a Pirloesque screamer from the 3/4 line, to make it 1-3 and maybe not all is lost. After a quick re-think on the sideline we packed our midfield with 5 players, with Sean Keating and Jamie Cuniffe asked to patrol the wings and 3 at the back and 2 up front as Colemanstown United tried to mount a comeback. The second half efforts did not herald the desired effect, but changed the dynamics of the match and all that was missing from our boys game was that second goal. That would have shifted the game even further for us. As the game progressed, Kilmurry’ s fitness and physical superiority became evident. They added two more goals in the final 15 minutes, sealing a comprehensive 5-1 victory. A lot of positives though to be taken from this defeat and the first win is around the corner for our boys. Two shout outs to – First: for Pádraig Fallon who once again stood in our goals and provided a great display, thank you. Secondly: Thank you, to all of you for the effort in making our visitors feel welcomed with buns, sandwiches, take away bags, they really appreciated it after the couple of hours of windung roads back to Mayo, there was such a selection and so much for all. Thank you. Match Report: Luca Lualdi
U14 Boys Div2: Colemanstown 2 -4 Ballinasloe Town. Our U14 Boys tasted defeat for the second time in the league as Ballinasloe Town left Colemanstown with a 4-2 victory. They were set on their way to all 3 points on 10mins before a very late goal secured the result. The opener arrived through a poorly defended corner & the unmarked striker headed home. Colemanstown almost conceded a replica soon after but the woodwork saved them. Colemanstown started to find their mojo on 15mins and were rewarded soon after with a sublime individual goal from Owen Hillary whose effort from 25yards riffled the roof of the net to level matters 1-1 at half time. There were little other chances created in the first half apart from a few half chances which fell to Dermot Parker, Daniel Ruane & Daithi Burns. Dermot Parker managed to beat the Ballinasloe keeper for a 2nd time through a penalty after he, himself was taken down 10mins into the second half & Parker duly converted the spot kick to put Colemanstown 2-1 in charge. The game then suddenly turned on its head within minutes following 2 dubious penalties for a foul in the box & an accidental hand ball in a quick turnaround to put the visitors 3-2 up. It was hellter skilter from then on as Colemanstown pushed for the remainder of the 2nd half in search of a share of the spoils. Late in the game, they worked hard to win a corner & got caught for a breakaway goal right at the death which punished Colemanstown’s attacking overload as Ballinasloe put the game to bed. After some additional minutes played on by the ref Colemanstown were unable to create another chance and the ref brought the proceedings to a close, as Ballinasloe Town secured a 4-2 victory in their second league win over Colemanstown this season. Overall Colemanstown played extremely well in phases but this wasn’t reflected on the score sheet. They return in 2 weeks time in search of their first win of the season. Match Report: Martina Donnellan
Squad: Aidan Quinn, Gearoid Griffin, Oisin Nugent, David Barrett, Darragh Blake, Jack Barrett, Daithi Burns, Owen Hillary, Finian Walsh, Dermot Parker, Daniel Ruane, Sean Forde, Thomas Kennedy, Mikey Nutley, Danny Mitchell.