Colemanstown U17s 3 – 1 Athenry
A hat-trick from Harry Mitchell was enough to break Athenry’s resolve and hearts yesterday as both teams squared up to each other in this local away league derby. Colemanstown started slowly and took a while to get into the rhythm of the game. Athenry were rewarded on 20mins for their early dominance when a free kick found its way to the net despite the best efforts of Luke Wilbur in goal. Colemanstown came more into it for the 2nd quarter earning a few corners while Jason Rabbitte and Ciaran Mulhern went close with long range efforts. Harry Mitchell had a half chance before the break but the keeper saved well. Both teams broke for half time with Athenry 1-0 up.
Whatever magic words were said by gaffer Jason Finn at half time worked wonders for the boys in green. They conjured a brilliant second half team display as they played with splendid assuredness and bravery on the ball – even when behind with Harry Mitchell laying the ultimate trump card – a hatrick. His first came soon after the restart when Luke Williams took a grip of the game, broke through the heart of the Athenry defence only to be floored in the process and Mitchell made no mistake from the spot kick. At this stage, Eanna Burke & David Walsh were introduced to the game and Fionn Flattery took over from Wilbur in goals.
Colemanstown’s dominance on the ball saw them go 2-1 up. Great work down the flank originated by Dean Connaire involving Jason Rabbitte & Harry Mitchell who fired out to David Walsh on the left and he lofted into a superb cross which was met perfectly by Harry for a wonder strike. This ignited the hosts as they piled on some pressure but Colemanstown stayed firm and resolute in their defending and hit Athenry for a sucker punch when they broke for the third following a long delivery over the top for Harry to run on to and although it looked initially like the ball ran away from him, he recovered splendidly, beat his man and unleashed an absolute thunderbolt into the top corner that sent the town of Athenry into raptures from the Colemanstown faithfuls. Kyle Madden & Jonathan Keane were introduced for the final quarter as the lads seen the game out ensuring there was no holes left gaping. Fionn Flattery was called into action in the last 10mins making some good saves; one notably from a free kick as the game petered to a close and the lads held on impressively.
It was an exceptional second half team display with the midfield trio of Jason Rabbitte, Luke Williams & Ciaran Mulhern committing themselves into every tackle winning the ball to feed the strike force of Tommy Mellody, Eanna Burke and Prince Harry – our hatrick hero. Well done lads.
Squad: Luke Wilbur, Dean Connaire, Cian Ruane, Jonah Donnellan, Ciaran Keating, Jason Rabbitte, Luke Williams, Ciaran Mulhern, Jack Jordan, Harry Mitchell, Tommy Mellody, Eanna Burke, David Walsh, Fionn Flattery, Jonathan Keane, Kyle Madden, Cathal Kennedy.
Colemanstown United U13 Boys 5 – 2 St Bernards
2-0 down after 4 minutes and it looked like the writing was on the wall for the Colemanstown boys at home on Saturday. But after picking the ball out of the net for the second time, the home team found their spark and completely dominated the remainder of the game. Our back 4 of Daniel Booth, Adam Devaney, Dermot Parker and Riain Donohue were rock solid and refused to allow their nearest rivals in for a 3rd chance at goal. Thomas Screene and David Barrett were instrumental in mid-field and a nice move between Thomas and David saw Keelyn Kirby slot home our 1st. Finian Walsh replaced Cathal Maybin before the break and slotted in seamlessly on the left wing to add to our attacking efforts. 2-1 at half time and the boys felt they had a chance at winning the second half.
Joshua Lualdi was having the game of his life with every ball he was touching was hurting St. Bernards back four. Eventually Joshua’s dominance was too much for St. Bernards who was taken down inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot and Thomas Screene stepped up to slot away a clinical finish past the keeper. The waves of attacking kept coming and Keelyn Kirby was hungry for his 2nd of the morning. An exquisite chip over the advancing goalkeepers shoulder made its way towards the goal line. Finian Walsh fought hard with the St. Bernards right back to ensure the ball crossed the line. Credit has to be given to Finian who tracked all the way from the midfield line to ensure he finished off the attacking move.
3-2 with 17 minutes remaining and Thomas Screene with his confidence at 100% took a shot from 20 yards out with his 2nd favourite foot to blast past the St. Bernards rearguard. Adam Kenny who was playing the right wing all morning was stretching the St. Bernards midfield every time the ball was at his foot. With 7 minutes remaining a trademark probing forward ball from Adam was missed by the St. Bernard’s keeper and crossed the line for our 5th. The injured Daniel Booth was replaced by Caolan O’Neill to ensure our back 4 remained strong with 20 minutes remaining. Jack Mannion was introduced for Joshua Lualdi who had worked his legs off for his team. In the final minutes, Dermot Parker was judged to have taken down the St. Bernards number 9 inside the box for a last gasp St. Bernards penalty, but his brother John wasn’t in the mood to pick a 3rd ball out of his net. A sublime save to his top left corner was pulled into his arms as the Colemanstown back 4 jumped onto John with joy, forgetting the game was still on!
Final score in Colemanstown: Colemanstown United 5 – 2 St Bernards. Match report by Robbie Parker