Orla McCaffrey, U12 Joint Manager reports on the 9 goal thriller in the U12A game yesterday.
Colemanstown U12A boys took on a strong Oranmore/Maree ‘B’ in their 3rd league match on a sunny Saturday morning in Colemanstown. Colemanstown were on the attack from the off, with initial shots on goal going wide. Oranmore were well up for the challenge and determined to get a win away from home with their initial few attempts going wide of the post. Deadlock was broken with Oranmore going 1-0 up, after a Colemanstown kickout found an Oranmore striker who placed it straight in the back of the net. 1-0. Colemanstown kept looking for their first, which came following super passing play. Conor Walsh ran from defence, linked up with Shane Quirke in a move involving Conor Walsh again & Joshua Buckley who placed the cross perfectly to the foot of Darren Moran, who made no mistake to restore parity. Colemanstown’s defence put in an immense job all day. James Queeney, Fionn Donohue and Conor Walsh closed down the Oranmore/Maree attackers and put in fantastic tackles. The next goal came from Oranmore with a long ball in from the wing, clipping the striker in the box and into the bottom corner. Colemanstown pushed forward with the midfield quartet: Ryan Concannon, Daniel Lydon, Joshua Buckley and Shane Quirke challenging for every ball and covered the pitch several times each! Oranmore came again with a long delivery which the Colemanstown keeper came to meet but the Oranmore striker nipped in ahead and made no mistake. Shane Quirke made a lovely run with a shot on goal going marginally wide just before the break to leave it 3-1 to Oranmore/Maree at half time. It was looking like an uphill task at the break.
Colemanstown started strong in the second half as the defense solidly stuck to the job of keeping the opposition out. Cathal Keane joined the play in midfield with some lovely passing and tackles in evidence. The next goal belonged to Shane Quirke who latched on to the ball and crept by the Oranmore defender with a superb shot which found the back of the net. Colemanstown were 3 -2 down and looking for the third, in this evenly matched, end to end game. Unfortunately it was the visitors who got the next one, when their striker was taken down in the penalty area and the referee was quick to point to the spot. Joshua McDonnell in the Colemanstown goals moved to make the save, but it was a well struck penalty to bring it to 4-2.
Colemanstown had a bit of a mountain to climb to get something from the game, and they certainly went at it! With some lovely passing moves originated from midfield, Shane Quirke who again wrong footed 2 defenders and with a lovely crisp strike he found the back of the net 4-3. Game on… Oranmore kept pressing for their fourth, but the defense, midfield and even the Colemanstown strikers at times were asked to help out in the back to keep Oranmore ay bay. The equaliser was well earned and came from some lovely Colemanstown passing originated in defense, with a lovely delivery from Daniel Lydon, and Cathal Keane made no mistake to send the ball crashing to the net…4-4…all level, with 10 minutes to go. Who would think such football could be served up at this young age? Both teams went for the winner, resulting in some lovely attacking and defensive play. Both teams had corner opportunities with efforts wide and cleared. The winner arrived from a long clearance from Colemanstown’s defense, and Shane Quirke again rounded the visitor’s defense and struck the ball straight across the goal into the back of the net to make it 5-4 to the home team. Fantastic stuff. The last few minutes of the game were frantic from both sides, with a number of corners for the visitors being cleared. One of these corners resulted in a lovely shot on goal, saved excellently by Joshua McDonnell and cleared out over the line. Both teams gave it their all in the last few minutes with Oranmore pressing but Colemanstown’s outstanding defending from the whole team stood tall! There was massive relief from the Colemanstown players (and coaches!)when the final whistle went. This close game came down to the wire and the players got stuck in and never gave up to perform a magnificent come back and win the game. That makes it 3 wins out of 3 league outings for this team.
Squad: Joshua McDonnell, James Queeney, Conor Walsh, Fionn Donoghue, Ryan Concannon, Daniel Lydon, Joshua Buckley, Shane Quirke, Darren Moran, Cathal Keane
Coaches: Orla McCaffrey, Fidelma Walsh
The players, coaches and club compliment U12 Co-manager Fidelma Walsh on her dancing techniques and moves last night in her “Strictly” debut!!! Well done Fidelma and indeed all the dancers. A great night’s entertainment for all present to enjoy.