The wind and drizzle had picked up this morning for this 10.30KO compared to the beautiful summer’s day we were gifted with the day before for our 10k. This made conditions difficult enough for both Colemanstown & Corofin in their second league outing at home as Conor Laffey started in goals with defenders Adam Cleary, Luke Williams & Dara Scarry slotting together nicely at the back with neither of them shy to take a shot. Striker Harry Mitchell opened the scoring with a shot from almost the half way line and doubled the scoring soon afterwards after a super cross from Tommy Mellody. Our 3rd goal came from a piece of dogged determination from Tommy Mellody who chased a lost cause which turned into a half chance and then turned into a glorious 3rd goal as he ran the length of the field and rounded the keeper. Confidence was up and team mentors Gareth Lally & Lee Murphy’s plan was being put into action.
Then the floodgates opened as Harry netted his hat trick with a cool finish after a great ball from Adam Cleary. With the team totally invigorated and our midfield quartet of Jason Rabbitte, Cian Ruane, Tommy Mellody & Ciaran Keating playing nice interchange football, our defence were well on top rarely letting anyone through. Conor Laffey had not much to do in goals and couldn’t be blamed for seeking management permission to go forward for a corner in the 2nd half but management declined and there wasn’t even a daisy to be seen for him to start making daisy chains! He couldn’t be blamed for either goal conceded while his kick outs at this age group were outstanding. Luke Williams showed a masterclass of footwork and passing; Dara Scarry showed some excellent tackling and Adam Cleary and Ciaran Keating were a constant threat on the right. Corofin struck back nearly immediately after the break with a well taken strike. Jason Rabbitte flew into the 2nd half with 2 great goals; his 1st a long range strike after good work from Eoin Keague and his 2nd another effort from distance after great tackling from Cian Ruane who was putting a halt to any Corofin advances with both feet and even his head. Then BOOM Harry Mitchell secured his 4th to round off a man of the match performance after a great counter-attack involving Jason Rabbitte & Tommy Mellody. Ciaran Keating provided his second assist to set up Tommy Mellody for our 7th. Some quick thinking from Jason Rabbitte and Eoin Keague saw a corner whipped in nicely and following a goal mouth scramble Adam Cleary clinically poked home to round off a goal feast of 8 goals for these youngsters. It was a game Colemanstown dominated from start to finish and gave a true meaning to the proverb ‘Possession is nine-tenths of the law’.
Thanks to Gareth Cluxton for the detailed notes.