Gary Devaney reports on the ‘A’ Teams end to end battle with city side Renmore at home on Saturday.
Our A-Team welcomed Renmore to Colemanstown on Saturday in a game that was always going to go down to the wire.
Renmore had a very strong wind at their backs in the first half and our defence knew they had to be at their best for the 45 minutes and they did not disappoint. Edmund Flannery and Jason Finn in the centre calmly dealt with all the aerial battles while Stephen Rabbitt and Conal Docherty did not give the Renmore attack an inch. With all the possession Renmore had in the first half they rarely troubled Alan Finn Junior in goal but when called upon was as reliable as ever. Shane Lally and David Mullins on the wings battled non stop against a tough Renmore midfield and were always there to help out their defence when called upon.
Geordan Kenny and Dylan Grady were introduced at half time and were straight into the action causing panic in the Renmore defence with the latter being fouled. When Richie Lally sent the resulting free kick into the area a deflection from a Renmore defender saw the ball fall to Gary Lally who calmly finished to the net. The referee disallowed the goal because Gary Lally was adjudged to have been offside, it appeared to be a terrible decision by the referee. Stevie Wonder was in the stand and even HE said it was a terrible decision.
With the outstanding trio of Richie Lally, Gary Lally and Padraig Quirke winning their individual battles in midfield Tomas Flannery was able to control the game up front and he set up Geordan Kenny for his first strike on goal which hit the post. A few minutes later Geordan Kenny raced onto a pass into the box from Richie Lally only to be hit with an elbow by the Renmore keeper. The referee said it was fine and to “get up off the ground”. Stevie Wonder thought he was seeing things. Sean Walsh and Conor Callaghan were introduced for one final push for three points after a number of injuries to a couple of more key players. Hopefully these lads won’t be out of action for too long. Our injury list is too long at the moment.
At this stage Colemanstown were in control and with only a few minutes remaining Tomas Flannery dispossessed a Renmore defender before being blatantly taken down in the box. Even the Renmore players stopped but the referee said no penalty. Stevie Wonder jumped into the car and drove away, he had seen enough. Renmore managed a final attack but Alan Finn Junior made an outstanding save and Stephen Rabbitt put his body on the line in a last gasp block. That was the last action in the game as it finished 0-0.
It felt like it was 2 points dropped but it wasn’t from lack of pure heart and determination from the Colemanstown lads. A Team’s next game is Sunday next v Dynamo Blues in Tuam at 11am. Support would be greatly appreciated.
Match report by: Gary Devaney