They’ve certainly gone through their ‘sticky patch’ and come out the better side as our ‘B’ team simply brushed neighbours Athenry aside today in a romping 4-1 win, their second big victory on the trot. There’s a confidence and a swagger about these ‘B’ lads….. no more fireworks, celebratory drinks kept to a minimum, the concentration now is on moving into the top half of the table and THEN on winning the league…. There were great displays all round and none more so than the exceptional central midfield duo of Sean Walsh & Padraig Quirke who partnered well with the soul destroying Conor O’Grady on the left wing & Niall Cunningham on the right. David Reilly turned in another mesmerizing performance up front while Ross Sullivan’s previous words to Rob Lally still echoed in his ear as he scored for the second successive game on the run. Our first goal came 15mins in, as Rob Lally put extreme pressure on Athenry’s short passes out of defence and after Lally dispossessed the striker, Niall Cunningham nipped in to tuck away our first from the edge of the 18′ box. Soon afterwards Colemanstown custodian Tom Broderick was put to the test but pulled off an exceptional one-handed save. 7mins later a long clearance in defence from Keith Donnellan found Kevin Reilly who controlled the ball superbly with his chest and swivelled to send a blistering half volley into the top left corner. The ‘bull’ Donnellan set up Reilly for his second of the day with another perfect delivery which fell nicely to the foot of Reilly who turned two defenders and drilled home a low drive from close range into the bottom left corner leaving the Athenry keeper with no chance. At this stage Joe Finnerty was more excited about ‘the bull’s’ two assists than Kevin Reilly’s two goals, when that happens you know Fantasy League is just gone to your head!!. Our 4th goal came also in the first half after great work from the hard working Conor O’Grady who swept in a beauty from the left wing which was poorly defended by Athenry but the lurking Rob Lally was on hand to tap home from just yards. Just before the interval Lally missed a sitter with an open goal but booted over the bar. Still 4-0 was respectable enough for us at half time. In the second half Athenry pressurised from the word go but central defenders Keith Donnellan & Adrian Burke were commanding while with Joe Finnerty on the right and the redeployed Steven Broderick on the left, all fears were laid to rest. Such was Athenry’s second half dominance that Colemanstown had a sole chance which fell to Kevin Reilly but he was unable to gift us with his hat trick. Athenry had a great chance to open their scoring 20mins into the 2nd half when they were awarded a penalty which they booted over. Their goal came soon afterwards after a Broderick mix up at the back, when Steven’s attempted header & Tom’s attempted goal line punch was only half cleared and subsequently fell to Athenry who blasted home. It didn’t matter much though as Colemanstown held out for another great victory, their second on the trot. So congrats to the ‘B’ team , they’re on the up as they stepped up to the task and got the job done superbly today.
Meanwhile, our ‘A’ team game vs Corrib Celtic in Annaghdown tomorrow is cancelled due to an unplayable pitch.