U12 : This morning seen the top two teams in our U12 league group go head-to-head in Corandulla as Colemanstown and Corrib Celtic each sought to secure a crucial advantage in the league title race. Neither side had suffered a single league defeat with both sides boasting an impressive almost identical record with Corrib having one game in hand. It was a tantalising game in which Jayo Finn & Gareth Lally’s young men felt they couldn’t afford to let their perch near top spot slip, especially against a Corrib Celtic side which was co-managed by Andy Concannon, a stalwart of Colemanstown in his time!! The 10am KO seen an early start with poor road conditions in spots and a frozen pitch to greet the Colemanstown lads on their arrival, hence the game was moved to Corandulla astro turf.
The lads togged out with the clock in the car reading -1°C and as the game began it was evident that the tight astro pitch didn’t facilitate the expanse of either sides play. Corrib Celtic started best as David Walsh had to clear the ball off his own goal line early on while Fionn Flattery made a great save with his feet to turn the ball out for a corner. The resultant corner was whipped in and none other than Kyle Concannon (Andy’s son) rose highest to head home the opener on 7mins. Parity was restored 2mins later as David Walsh’s corner was whipped in and Killian Hughes was on hand to squeeze the ball through a crowded area as it took a deflection on its way and as the snow fell down. Just before half time, the Annaghdown side had another gifted chance but the ball deflected off the post and was hacked away from danger by Diarmuid Ryan to leave the score 1-1 at the break.
In the 2nd half as the intrigue continued between the 2 sides, Cian Burke did well to win back a ball in midfield, passed back to David Walsh whose looping ball deflected off Patrick Flynn and wide. Colemanstown took the lead 6 mins after the restart after a passage of play involving Fionn Flattery and Cathal Kennedy, the latter’s long delivery found Patrick Flynn who beat the offside trap but as his effort was saved, there were 2 more chances on the rebound but a blanket Corrib Celtic defence kept their goal in tact but had to surrender a corner in the process. The resultant corner was taken by David Walsh who followed up the play and was perfectly positioned to bullet home the rebound, again taking a deflection on the way. Cian Burke then volleyed a Walsh delivery but the keeper saved well. Corrib Celtic equalised matters midway through the 2nd half in what looked to be a blatant offside but the ref waved play on and their striker dispatched the ball well past Flattery in goals. Cian Burke had another chance with 10mins to go with a high lobbing attempt and David Walsh’s drive was well held by the keeper. With a minute to go Corrib broke on the counter attack but a good combined save between David Walsh tracking back and Fionn Flattery quick off his goal line saved the day to ensure a deserved and fair share of the spoils for both teams which may very well have presented the opportunity for both teams to meet again in a play-off decider.
Squad: Fionn Flattery, Cathal Kennedy, Diarmuid RYan, David Walsh, Jonah Donnellan, Cian Burke, Killian Hughes, Dylan Murphy, Patrick Flynn, Cathal Kennedy, Shane Kenny.
A Team: After suffering a 4-2 defeat in the Connacht Shield to Glen Celtic last weekend, our A team slumped to another league loss at home to Tuam Celtic today. Although they extended their current losing run and nursing a few wounds, they can only take the positives from todays game given that for large parts they had time and space on the ball to play. They can only build on that for the next outing.