Colemanstown A 1 – 1 Tuam Celtic
The fight to stay in top level football was seen in all honesty yesterday as the bottom 2 table proppers went at it hammer & tongs. It was a passion-filled afternoon, on the pitch as a much-needed 3 points were required by both Colemanstown and visitors Tuam Celtic.
The game was a battle which was delicately poised for most of the first half, although Tuam had the better of the first half chances, but spurned many of them as Sean Hardiman & Jayo Finn were in commanding form at the back. Half chances fell to Kegs, Gareth Lally & Dylan Grady but were unable to find the target.
Colemanstown duly weathered the storm and got themselves back in the game through a Mossy Carr goal 15mins after the restart. Geordan Kenny earned a free kick which was quickly taken by Damo Wynne to Gareth Lally & his cross was volleyed home by Mossy with a lovely finish. The goal provided a timely shot-in-the-arm for Colemanstown, just what was required as Dylan Grady and a Tuam player saw red just before that after a long stoppage in play.
Colemanstown wrestled back control for most of the 2nd half and particularly when Tuam were reduced to 9 men 37 mins into the 2nd half. Kegs latched on to a long delivery from the back but his effort went over; he dispossessed a Tuam defender moments later but his effort again was up and over & Gary Lally was unhandsomely wide. Ryan Noone was introduced to add extra speed on the wing. Junior was in good form to deny Tuam a goal as he was well positioned to make the stop. Tuam drew level on 41mins when their striker got on the end of a free kick to finish from close range. With 2mins of normal time remaining Damo Wynne’s long range effort to lob the keeper sent Tuam’s custodian back pedalling to make the save while up the other end Junior had to be alert to make another fine stop with his feet this time.
With 9mins of additional time played, Colemanstown will rue missed opportunities particularly in the closing stages. Damo Wynne was wide with a header from a free kick. The best chance of the half came on 52mins when Wynner found himself one-on-one with the keeper but failed to find the target as the unmarked Thady Moran & Ryan Noone were both roaring for the pass. Thady Moran had a late chance to snatch a winner but his effort was saved at the butt of the post by the keepers feet. 1-1 final score & for sure a vital 2 points lost rather than a point gained.
Alan ‘Junior’ Finn, Damien Wynne, Sean Hardiman, Jason Finn, Ronan Carr, Padraig Quirke, Gareth Lally, Kerrill Hardiman, Mossy Carr, Geordan Kenny, Dylan Grady, Ryan Noone, Thady Moran, Ethan Lally.
Colemanstown U15s 5 – 1 Loughrea
Five different goal scorers scored yesterday as our U15s put in a super shift with a 5-1 home league win against Loughrea.
Joe Finnerty & Gary Broderick’s charges starred in a pulsating clash. Shane Duffy opening the scoring on 5mins after David Walsh’s cross from the left was touched down neatly by Jamie Nutley to Duffy who beat the keeper from close range. Our 2nd came 10mins later when David Walsh latched on to a loose ball and his left footed effort from 25yards found the top corner. Our 3rd goal arrived on the 20min mark when a David Walsh corner was headed home by the towering Diarmuid Ryan in the box. Loughrea pressed and settled more into the game for the remainder of the half and created a couple of decent chances but the defence line of Donnacha Walsh, Diarmuid Ryan, Cillian Roche & Sean Connolly stood firm as Kyle Madden put in his usual imperious display. 3-0 at half time.
A few positional changes at half time saw young Josh McDonnell introduced for Cillian Roche who was saving himself for the U15 A1 County Final vs Sarsfields on Sunday. Ross Lally was redeployed at centre back, Shane Duffy to centre mid & Josh McDonnell as striker. McDonnell sent Colemanstown well clear 5 mins after the restart in ruthless fashion as he skipped by a number of defenders down the left wing, cut in across the box & slid the ball past the keeper to make it 4-0. Loughrea pulled 1 back after some sloppy defending in a one-on-one effort which was drilled past Fionn Flattery. Colemanstown responded though as both David Walsh & Jonah Donnellan seen their free kicks spectacularly saved. Tiernan Lohan hammered the final nail when he teed up with Jonah Donnellan and Lohan struck his effort on the half volley to slam home No.5 with Ronan Screene also doing trojan work up front in the 2nd half. With a few notable absentees, this was a good result as we send a message of intent to Andy Concannon & Kevin O’Neill !!.