U15 Girls Championship. Colemanstown 4- 2 Corrib Celtic. Our U15 Girls avenged their 8-1 away defeat in their opening league game to Corrib Celtic with a super home win on Saturday. A brace apiece from Chloe Flynn & Tia Loughnane set them well on their way. Table toppers Corrib Celtic had won the earlier exchange & indeed were unbeaten in the league to date but couldn’t repeat the same feat. This made it all the more remarkable for the Colemanstown youngsters. Muireann Roche was the party-pooper. She put in one of her best days at left back with an absolutely outstanding performance. Indeed it was a game in which Colemanstown’s defence stood tall with 4 solid defenders in Roche, Aisling Ruane, Shauna McDonagh & Eimear Schwitalla which helped to galvanise the superb performance of Lucy Butler in goal. Chloe Flynn set the tone with 2 goals within 10mins following some great passing football. Emily Rohan & Leah O’Connor were involved in the first goal while Rachel Kennedy, Roisin Ruane & Tia Loughnane were involved in the build up to her 2nd. Following the 2 goals Corrib Celtic clicked into gear but Lucy Butler was in outstanding form between the Colemanstown posts. 10mins before the break Tia Loughnane made it 3-0 with a good individual goal to put us in the driving seat by half time. Corrib Celtic re-emerged with renewed vigour & clawed a goal back soon after the restart. The visitors created lots of chances & forced a hatful of corners but Lucy Butler’s form was exceptional and the back 4 were solid with Niamh Naughton slotted into right back & Roisin Keague & Ruby Lynch also playing their part in the 2nd half. The heartstrings of the Colemanstown management team on the sideline were tugged when Corrib Celtic brought it back to 3-2 as time was ticking down in the 2nd half. The pressure was immense as the half wore on with Celtic creating several chances until Tia Loughnane somewhat relieved it 10mins before the end to widen the gap again to 4-2 & make it a bit more comfortable. Colemanstown held out for the remainder of the game to finish off an absolutely superb Colemanstown display & ignite a kind of party atmosphere, such was the greatness of this win. Final score: Colemanstown 4- 2 Corrib Celtic. Match report: Martina Donnellan
Squad: Lucy Butler, Muireann Roche, Aisling Ruane, Shauna McDonagh, Eimear Schwitalla, Rachel Kennedy, Leah O’Connor, Roisin Ruane, Chloe Flynn, Tia Loughnane, Emily Rohan, Niamh Naughton, Roisin Keague, Ruby Lynch.
U13 Girls Div1: Merlin Woods 2 – 1 Colemanstown. The headline act of the U13 Girls Championship came from Merlin Woods City Park at the weekend as table toppers Merlin Woods played host to 2nd placed Colemanstown in an eagerly awaited early morning KO in this top-of-the-table clash. It was the home side who came out on top with Colemanstown now sitting in 3rd place. Our girls had only suffered one defeat prior to Sundays encounter, but the battling performance by the Colemanstown girls was a joy to behold. In a fierce tight & tense encounter, Merlin Woods opened the scoring on 10mins but a quick Colemanstown response through Sorcha Nic an Iomaire brought us back level thanks to a great individual goal following a penetrating run from 30 yards matched with an equally splendid cannonball finish. The hosts regained the lead just before half time when the ball took a deflection for an unfortunate OG. 2-1 to Merlin Woods at the break. In the 2nd half, there was nothing between the sides as both sets of players left nothing behind on the pitch. Julie Holohan’s strong presence was made known as she was outstanding throughout the entire game, with Lauren O’Grady at right back & Katie Geary bossing the midfield exchanges. Chances were at a premium with many last ditch tackles enough to halt progress towards goal & what did get through was dealt with superbly by Lily Burke in the Colemanstown goal. We were unfortunate with a penalty plea in the 2nd half as the ref allowed the advantage which mounted to nothing. Colemanstown increased the pressure in the 2nd half aided by some wonderful throws from Kayla Maloney akin to that of Megan Campbell. We pressed & pressed in search of the elusive equaliser but it was not to be. The final whistle was sweet music to Merlin Woods but came too soon for Colemanstown who richly deserved at least a share of the spoils. Final score: Merlin Woods 2 – 1 Colemanstown. Match report: Martina Donnellan
Squad: Lily Burke, Lauryn Murphy, Amy Morrissey, Laoise Naughton, Eimear Flynn, Sorcha Nic an Iomaire, Siana O’Grady, Kate Geary, Julie Holohan, Niamh Lally, Aoife Mulcahy, Ava Forde, Mia Corcoran, Kayla Maloney, Laura Hayes, Lauren O’Grady.
Our U17 Girls had a tough league encounter against table toppers Oughterard at home on Sunday. With many of our players unavailable, Oughterard were well on top and were merciless in stages and gave us no time on the ball. Libby Kennedy was the sole Colemanstown scorer.