Colemanstown A 3 – 3 Athenry
Colemanstown turned in a great performance against local rivals Athenry, in what is always a tough away fixture. Colemanstown, unfortunately, had been relegated at this stage, but in a local derby, positions on the table mean nothing.
We went ahead on 15 minutes, through a typical Tom Flannery top corner strike, after being put through by his hard working captain, Damien Wynne.
Athenry responded with relentless pressure, but without really creating any clear cut chances, due to the increasingly confident keeper, Alan Junior Finn and a resilient back four of Damien Wynne, Jason Finn, Sean Hardiman and Geordan Kenny, aided by a working midfield of Kerril Hardiman, Mossy Carr, Richie Lally, Padraig Quirke and Gareth Lally.
The pressure eventually paid dividends for the home side with two well taken goals by former Colemanstown player, Ray Moran.
As always, our lads kept calm and continued to battle, which was rewarded with a well taken Mossy Carr Goal. Mossy once again proved his efficiency in front of goal.
Athenry were rocked 5 minutes later when Richie Lally found himself through on goal with loads of time. Sometimes having too much time can be a disadvantage! But not for Richie! He calmly passed the ball to the right of the keeper to give Colemanstown the lead.
Inevitably Athenry piled on the pressure to salvage something form the game/ Alan Junior Finn pulled off two remarkable saves, as it looked like Colemanstown would hold out for a satisfying win. However, Athenry got rewarded a controversial penalty, after Dylan O’Grady was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball.
The game ended in a three all draw, which has made the fight for the title a little more interesting. Match report by Ollie Crowe
Colemanstown 1 – 2 Maree / Oranmore
Our final game of the season was a home game against Oranmore. The fate of both teams had already been decided, at this stage, but we were hoping to continue our good run of form, with a home win.
Oranmore started off well and put Colemanstown under pressure for a lot of the first half, despite going down to ten men. Colemanstown soaked up the pressure and eventually settled into the game. Mossy Carr can count himself extremely unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty late into the first half. If only Johnny Lally’s video evidence could be used, a penalty would certainly have been awarded!
The request to up the tempo in the second half was answered by the home side, who finally started to impose their dominance. The increased pressure finally paid off, when Mossy Carr, this year’s top scorer, met a Damien Wynne cross, to give Colemanstown the lead, with only 6 minutes left! Unfortunately Oranmore managed to score two late goals, the last being a top corner free kick, which was, more or less, the last kick of the game.
Despite finishing on a loss, the management can be satisfied that the morale among the group finished on a high. This is due to the hard work, honesty and commitment of the squad, through a most challenging season. Despite all the difficult results, the core of the squad stuck together and continued to work hard, week in week out.
We hope this core group can stick together next year, to build on the momentum of the last few months. There is a wealth of talent available and a wealth of young talent waiting to step up. If this blend of experience and youth can be achieved, the future of the A Team will be bright.
The management of Eoin Savo Kenny, Ollie Crowe, Niall Rohan and Kenny Duane would like to sincerely thank all the players for their loyalty and commitment this year and for instilling an atmosphere of fun and craic into train sessions and matches. Thanks also to Johnny Lally for providing live updates of our games on social media. A special mention must go to Martina Donnellan, who was on hand day or night, to help with the thankless job of administration. We wish all players every success for next. Match report by Ollie Crowe