Our A teams latest league encounter over Carraroe side MacDara on Saturday was a tough game that they probably deserved to win. Colemanstown played very well in the first half with the defence of Ronan Geraghty, Conor Jackson and Ronan Carr doing well while the midfield trio of Padraig Quirke, Ray Moran and Jason Finn worked tirelessly and controlled the game for large parts. Damien Wynne and Squelchy did great work on the wings and John O’Brien and Dylan Grady upfront linked up well and put in a huge effort at both ends of the pitch.
Colemanstown’s best chances in the first half were created by Damien Wynne on the right wing whose cross was cleared off the head of John O’Brien before Jason Finn fired the clearance narrowly over from just outside the box. 10 minutes later the industrious Padraig Quirke dug out a cross on the right wing after a great team move and the clearance was this time fired narrowly wide by Ray Moran.
Moments later Ray created an opening for himself on the left wing before cutting inside to fire narrowly wide once again. 0-0 at HT.
Colemanstown again created good chances in the second half but the final finish was lacking and as legs started to tire a period of pressure seen MacDara head goalward from a corner only for Gareth Lally to make a fine save and touch the ball against his own bar.
The introduction of Alan Finn was soon followed by Sean Walsh and Geordan Kenny which saw a new impetus in attack and with just over 10 minutes to go Geordan weaved his way into the box before being upended and ref Danny Corbett immediately pointed to the spot. Ronan Geraghty made no mistake from the spot and soon after the restart a foul on Ray Moran seen the visitors reduced to 10 men.
As the clock ticked down MacDara got a free kick that was very much in the soft category and with it came a chance to launch the ball into the danger area. After two clearances, three ricochets, some pinball and at least one blatant foul the ball somehow was poked to the net and the Colemanstown lads were deflated and very much aggrieved.
Unfortunately 2 minutes later and deep into injury time things went from bad to worse when a long clearance seen the MacDara striker run at the Colemanstown defence and after a great tackle the ball somehow rebounded back to the feet of the attacker who poked the ball past Gareth to give the visitors all 3 points.
The lads put in a great shift and played their best football this season in the first half but as has been the case far too often this season, that little bit of luck you sometimes need has just not gone their way.
The players and management would like to thank Conor Jackson for his efforts and wish him well on his travels over the coming months. We hope to see him back in September for the start of next season.
Squad: Gareth Lally, Ronan Geraghty, Conor Jackson, Ronan Carr, Jason Finn, Padraig Quirke, Ray Moran, Damien Wynne, Stephen Walsh, Dylan Grady, John O’Brien.
Subs: Alan Finn, Sean Walsh, Geordan Kenny, Jack Kennedy.
Man of the match: Padraig Quirke – A captains performance. Worked his socks off with several vital tackles and led by example.