With a busy weekend of fixtures, we did our best to prevent matches being postponed due to the extreme weather promised at the weekend by reverting two of our home games to Kiltullagh’s all-weather surface.
First up for an early Saturday morning KO were our U12 team. Match report below from Robbie Parker.
Colemanstown United U12s 1 – 4 Kiltullagh Pioneers.
Colemanstown gave away home advantage to ensure the first round of the league Cup went ahead on Saturday morning in storm swept Kiltullagh Astro. Team selection was largely based on who could tolerate the cold and wet the best. The first half started 5 minutes ahead of schedule to reduce the frostbite and saw Darragh Anderson start up front being a thorn in the Kiltullagh side. It meant a 4 man midfield had the responsibility of stabilising the shape after a tough game in Kiltullagh in the league earlier in the season. It proved successful, however the longing to keep attacking with each opportunity of possession meant that an extra yard was opened between our defence and midfield and after 10 minutes Kiltullagh quickly figured out the hole and discovered where opportunities were going to develop.
The 1st of those opportunities fell and an optimistic shot from Kiltullagh found it’s way to the net at the near post as our boys were too slow to close down. The next 10 minutes saw Kiltullagh score their 2nd, 3rd and 4th as the 4th demonstrated the gap and slowness of our reactions where an inswung corner found our boys ball watching. That was it for Kiltullagh however and it was also all our boys could tolerate from the cold. First half substitutions were needed and Keelyn Kirby and Adam Kenny gave energy into a shivering midfield. That energy conjured up a goal when Robbie Lydon took a powerful shot on goal which deflected off the Kiltullagh defence and wrong footed the Kiltullagh keeper, much deserved at this stage of the game. Half time came and the boys were rotated based on the availability of dry tracksuits.
Cathal Maybin switched with David Barrett effortlessly and Scott Donoghue came on to midfield to add some tenacity to the effort. Finian Walsh switched with John Parker in goals selflessly to allow John to warm up and produced two showstoppinng saves on his introduction. After 10 minutes, Finian showed his versatility and went to left side of midfield, where for the remainder of the game proved to be the starting point of our attack. The second half proved to be all Colemanstown and play was now being built up by Dermot Parker as he combined with a hard working midfield. The introduction of Joshua Lualdi gave a new dynamic up front and allowed Colemanstown to link up play with midfield as he led the attack. Efforts were plenty but dangerous shots on goal were in short supply and the second half saw a goalless 30 minutes which didn’t help the onlookers. A 4-1 win to the hosts was the final score in Kiltullagh and hot baths for everyone involved!!
Our B Team took on 2nd from top, Corrib Celtic at home in the league on Saturday in fierce conditions. They were carved open from the start as the visitors bossed proceedings in most areas of the pitch. The best chances in a tough outing fell to Conor Feeney & Shane Lally. The going was so tough keeper Tom Broderick made an attempt to walk away from goals at one stage. Down 5-0 at the break, Colemanstown produced a much better second half performance with Conor Feeney scoring a consolation goal from 18 yards five mins after the restart to peg it back to 5-1. Brian Connolly adopted an attacking role for the 2nd half which appeared to work to good effect. The defenders were under pressure for most of the game & did reasonably well against top class opposition. The visitors scored 3 more 2nd half goals to turn the screw as David Mullins had threatened a documentary would be made if they could pull off a comeback! They’ll be no documentary on this occasion though.
Colemanstown U16s 4 – Moyne Villa 2
Our U16s travelled up the road to Kiltullagh astro yesterday knowing a win against Moyne Villa would pit them top of the table in the U16 Championship. On what can only be described as a cold but beautiful day for football, Colemanstown started the stronger even without regular keeper Fionn Flattery as Diarmuid Ryan took the keepers shirt for the 80mins. Ciaran Mulhern looked dangerous in the early stages and within 2 mins he found the opener with a classic lob of the keeper from almost the centre circle which rifled the net
As Moyne Villa attempted to break through the Colemanstown backline, they were limited to shots from distance. They restored parity though on 10mins in a move originated from a throw, the ball was worked down the line & a low hard drill from a good distance squeezed inside the post past the diving body of Diarmuid Ryan. 3mins later Captain fantastic put Colemanstown in front in a well created move from the back. Cian Ruane showed great ball control, fed Dean Connaire on the left flank who in turn found Jason Rabbitte who ran into a more scoreable position, took one glance at goal & unleashed an unmerciful long distance effort over the keeper into the top right corner. Moyne Villa then created a great opportunity and only for the vigilance and perfect positioning of Cian Ruane to hack the ball off the goal line, not only once but a quick double clearance kept the ball out with the final clearance by a briefly ruffled Colemanstown defence. Colemanstown upped the ante with some great passing movement from the back. Tommy Mellody’s cross across the box found Harry Mitchell whose conspicuous step over allowed the ball onto his left foot & his low hard effort sank past the keeper for a 3-1 lead. 4 goals with 14mins gone – one wondered would this be a goal feast. Centre back Cian Ruane saw his header from a Mellody corner saved on the line by the keeper; Tommy Mellody’s low hard drill was saved while Harry drew a diving save from a busy keeper with his left footer from the edge of the D as Colemanstown continued to push forward. 3-1 at the break.
An early 2nd half goalmouth scramble saw the ball cleared off the Villa goal line. In a crowded box, it was hard to see who got the final boot to it. Then Diarmuid Ryan had to be alert as he watched a long distance free from the half way line all the way, as he dealt with it easily in the end. While Moyne Villa were arguably having the lion’s share of 2nd half possession, Colemanstown always looked the more dangerous of the two sides, often threatening on the counter due to the strength and pace of Ciaran Mulhern and Jayo Rabbitte on either wing in the 2nd half while Moyne Villa were limited to some tame efforts. Mulhern’s run up along the left wing culminated in a save by the keeper who parried the ball and with Jack Jordan & Mellody ready to pounce, the keeper was quick to up himself from the ground on the 2nd attempt to avert further infliction. With 26mins gone in the half, again Diarmuid Ryan had to be quick with his paw to concede a corner.
As Colemanstown continued to press, another run from Mulhern on the left wing found Jack Jordan who sent in a hopeful cross met by the boot of Jack Dillon who saw his effort saved, only for the follow up to fall nicely for Harry Mitchell who saw his effort thunder off the crossbar as he clutched his head in disbelief, running back to his position. On the 30min mark, Jack Jordan who had been sprung from the bench for the 2nd half, volleyed home Tommy Mellody’s sweet delivery from a corner with a bullet of an effort to make it 4-1. It was no more than these lads deserved for the entertaining football on display. A minute later, Colemanstown conceded a dubious penalty which was dispatched past Ryan to make it 4-2 and set up a nervy enough final 10mins. However, they coped well with the pressure to hold out for a convincing 4-2 win that their tireless & dogged work most certainly deserved. Jason Finn’s charges now lie in pole position but there’s a long journey to go yet.
Squad: Diarmuid Ryan, Dara Scarry, Ciarán Keating, Cian Ruane, Dean Connaire, Luke Williams, Jonah Donnellan, Ciarán Mulhern, Tommy Mellody, Harry Mitchell, Jason Rabbitte, Jack Jordan, Jack Dillon, Johnny Keane.