The wrath of Mother Nature took its hold on this game as our U13s suffered disappointment after extra time as they crashed out of the SFAI Cup to an impressive Sligo/Leitrim side Manor Rangers this morning. It was a game when sliding tackles were literally sliding on water as the deluge of rain came down early in the game. God help the parents washing those togs and jerseys! It was a long trip, the best part of 2 hours for the visitors, who travelled by car with a short delay at kick off due to a few Leitrim cars taking a more scenic route to Colemanstown. Fionn Flattery was called into action early on with two good saves. On 11mins the visitors broke through, stretching Colemanstown’s defence and lashed home an unstoppable drive from the edge of the box.
On 15mins, a delivery from the flank into the box was latched on to by a combination of Dylan Murphy & Killy Hughes and as Killy was upended the ref immediately pointed to the spot. Jonah Donnellan calmly squeezed the resultant penalty in at the butt of the left post. At this stage, there was a great welcome for the arrival of Orla Quirke fresh from her Galway Bay marathon exploits in rain sodden Galway earlier in the morning. She was so fresh she hopped up the steps of the stand in jig time. Congrats Orla who now has a few marathons under her belt as all the training has paid off. On 21 mins Fionn did well to hold on to a slippy ball while Shane Quirke’s run down the flank on the stand side of the field found Killy Hughes whose delivery was met was Patrick Flynn but the ball was sneaked off his toe just as he was about to shoot. 1-1 half time.
There was little to shout about by either side in the 2nd half. 13mins after the restart a long free from the back from Jonah Donnellan for Patrick Flynn who had a chance for a moment but following hesitation, the ball was cleared over the line by a combined defensive effort. On 20mins a speculative shot from the visitors drew a great save from Fionn Flattery and although the ball slipped out of his hands, he regained his composure well to save a certain goal. With 5mins remaining of the hour, a mistake at the back looked like Manor Rangers were on course for a late winner. A mix up from David & Fionn, saw Fionn advance off his line, but the striker rounded him and as the ball was making its way towards goal, David Walsh made amends as he tracked back well to ensure extra time was required to separate these two sides. With 3mins to go, Colemanstown had a half chance as Killian Hughes’ header went wide. Right at the death, with Fionn beaten, a strike from the visitors was goal bound only for the intervention of Conor Walsh who cleared the danger.
2mins into extra time a good effort from Shane Quirke from out near the end line was well held by the Rangers keeper. Rangers broke the deadlock a minute before the extra time break as our defence were stretched once more and their striker took advantage by powering home his effort to put Manor Rangers 2-1 up. Fionn made a great one handed diving save from Rangers towering No. 4. Shane Quirke then was fouled out near the stand and while Jonah Donnellan’s free kick found Davy Walsh whose left footed drive drew a good diving save from the visitor’s custodian.
Mid-way through the 2nd period of extra time and Manor Rangers sealed the win as their No. 4 found the top corner from a free kick from the edge of the 18’ box to finish strong with a 3-1 win. Jayo Finn & Gareth Lally’s lads must now lift themselves for their next league outing as we wonder if the wrath of Mother Nature & the pitch condition affected the team’s performance. It was also good to see Lee Murphy shout on the lads, even if only for a weekend visit.
Squad: Fionn Flattery, Cathal Kennedy, Diarmuid Ryan, Conor Walsh, Ross Lally, Patrick Flynn, Jonah Donnellan, Shane Quyirke, David Walsh, Killian Hughes, Fylan Murphy, Cian Burke, Shane Kenny, Cathal Hynes, Sean Connolly & Marco