Doughiska was the venue yesterday morning for our two U11 teams who took on Merlin Woods in the U11 Development league. Our 1st team was co-managed by Orla McCaffrey and Laura Parker.
Colemanstown started strongly and with great intent, making several attacks with numerous shots on goal. Conor Walsh opened the scoring for Colemanstown with a lovely shot, well deserved, after Colemanstown had a number of shots saved by Merlin Woods keeper while their defence line were under pressure from the word go. Minutes later Shane Quirke’s shot took a deflection to land in the back of the net to make it 2-0 to the boys in green. The home side settled and got one back on the counterattack through a lovely shot that keeper Joshua Buckley was unlucky not to reach. Colemanstown had the upper hand with some great efforts but the scoreline remained 2-1 at half time as defenders Tiernan Malone and Joshua McDonnell together with Ryan Concannon were well on top with some great tackling and passing the ball out of danger.
In the 2nd half, the home side re-grouped and came out with better intent with most of the action near the Colemanstown goals, but our defenders were on form and Joshua Buckley minded his net well. Colemanstown scored another through Conor Walsh as he shrugged his shoulders and drilled a smashing effort to make it 3-1. Merlin Woods responded to put one past the keeper and claw the score back to 3-2. Colemanstown upped the attack and the goals began to flow as Shane Quirke who was a joy to watch displayed some ‘Ronaldo type’ footwork and found Walsh who unleashed an unstoppable shot past Merlin Woods keeper to give Colemanstown a two goal cushion. Some positional switches saw Joshua Buckley move outfield with his namesake Joshua McDonnell mind the net. Colemanstown continued to dominate with some fantastic play as Darren Moran forced numerous corners running his heart out and with some lovely solo efforts from Shane Quirke, Conor Walsh & Joshua McDonnell they extended the scoreline through McDonnell’s effort after he afforded himself the required space. Straight from the kick off Shane Quirke found the net with a long range effort. While the visitors got one back, Colemanstown dominated the remainder of the game while Conor Walsh delivered the knock-out blow scoring his 4th of the day through a superb solo effort making great use of the pitch to finish emphatic winners on a 7-3 scoreline and seal a memorable day for these lads. Thanks to Orla McCaffrey for the comprehensive report.
Squad: Joshua Buckley, Tiernan Malone, Ryan Concannon, Joshua McDonnell, Shane Quirke, Darren Moran, Conor Walsh.
Our 2nd team managed by Barry Forde did not provide the same feast of goals as the first team and were nevertheless unfortunate to lose 2-1 in a smashing game which saw all 7 players play their hearts out. Although the hosts came out on top in this very keenly contested game, both teams attacked from the start and created chances but found both goalkeepers and defences in good form. With half time approaching Merlin Woods got 2 goals in quick succession on the counter to put them ahead 2-0 at half time. A few positional switches at half time saw a re-juggled Colemanstown emerge for the 2nd period. Dillon Roche who played up front in the first half was re-deployed as in defence; Kilian Roche moved up front where he caused a lot of havoc and Cathal Kennedy took up the keepers position. Ronan Screene & Ross Lally remained as defenders and used the width of the pitch to great effect while James Queeney & Fionn Flattery anchored the midfield berth and put together some excellent passing moves and brilliant teamwork supporting each other well. Fionn Flattery had a host of chances and James Queeney also created a few chances but Merlin Woods defence was difficult to penetrate and their keeper was in top form. Our 2nd half goal came from a long ball over the top from Fionn Flattery which Kilian Roche latched onto and dispatched as neatly as you’d see. Try as they might to get the all-important equaliser even in the last kick of the game a shot from James Queeney was saved well. Nevertheless, it was a very even battle between both sides particularly in the 2nd half and the hosts just about nudged it in the end on a 2-1 scoreline. Thanks to Barry Forde for the match notes.
Panel: Kilian Roche, Ronan Screene, Cathal Kennedy, Ross Lally, James Queeney, Dillon Roche, Fionn Flattery.