Weekend Match Reports: Part 2 – just as we wrap up the year…

Our weekend teams battled it out in style before the well earned Christmas break. 

U12 Girls Championship: Colemanstown 0 -0 Loughrea. Our U12 Girls travelled to Kiltulla yesterday to take on Loughrea in their latest league encounter. Colemanstown started off on the front foot with Lauren O’Grady & Ava Forde putting Loughrea under pressure but Loughrea’s defence stood tall. Loughrea were a much more physical outfit but our girls matched them with Faye Ryan, Jade Devaney & Aislinn Murray at the back in superb form, solid as a rock & it was rare to see them troubled. Ciara Maybin, Realtin Saunders, Lucy Burke Hardiman & Ava Forde all clicked together in midfield. In the 1st half Lucy Burke Hardiman supplied a great pass to Lauren O’Grady but her effort was closed down by the Loughrea defence, Ava Forde got on the rebound but the wind caught her effort & it was an easy save for the keeper in the end. Lauren O’Grady had a good chance before the break after she latched on to a great through-ball from Ciara Maybin but fired marginally wide. 0-0 at half time in a game of few opportunities in which the wind played puck. Erin Holmes was introduced in the 2nd half & got stuck in immediately winning some great challenges in her fearless mode. Then Loughrea applied a spell of sustained pressure but the 3 at the back were impassable. Colemanstown created 2 more chances but just couldn’t find the net. Emily Tuohy pulled off a top drawer save in her usual confident style late in the game. Overall it was a challenging match in windy conditions that ended in stalemate. Final score from Kiltulla: Loughrea 0 -0 Colemanstown.   Match report: Ann Forde. 

Squad: Emily Touhy, Jade Devaney, Aislinn Murray, Faye Ryan, Ciara Maybin, Realtin Saunders, Ava Forde, Lucy Burke Hardiman, Lauren O’Grady. 

U14 Girls Div1. Kilshanvey 0- 5 Colemanstown. Our U-14 girls wrapped up their final game before the Christmas break with an away win against Kilshanvey in Kilconly. No one wanted to get out of their warm cars for the warmup such was the bitter cold and wet morning. Despite the adverse weather, twelve determined players took to the field, ready to give their all. Captain & custodian Lucy Butler, utilising a strong breeze in the first half, showcased her impressive kick-outs from the off which consistently landed deep in the opposition’s half creating early opportunities. In the early exchanges the custodian made a world class save in the opening 10 minutes to go full stretch and save with a strong left arm..this was an inspirational moment as the game could have gone the other way only for that audacious stop. The breakthrough however, arrived in the 25th minute when Maddie Rohan capitalised on a defensive error. A well-timed through ball bounced over the Kilshanvey defenders, allowing Maddie to run on and calmly slot the ball past the goalkeeper.  Facing a stiff breeze in the second half, the team anticipated a challenging 30 minutes. Fortunately, the wind subsided slightly, and the girls rose to the occasion. Ten minutes into the half, Laura Hayes scored her first goal for Colemanstown executing a brilliant solo effort to beat the defender and find the net. But Laura wasn’t done there. Ten minutes later, she doubled her tally before setting up Grace Jordan’s first goal for the club with a superb cut-in from the wing, delivering a perfect assist. Grace made no mistake in slotting the ball home. The defensive unit, led by Lucy Butler in goal, Grace Connolly, Aoife Walsh and sisters Niamh and Laoise Naughton remained solid throughout, ensuring Kilshanvey posed little threat. In the 70th minute, Laura Hayes completed her hat-trick with a composed finish, capping off an outstanding individual and team performance. Credit must go to Muireann Roche and Shauna McDonagh who again commanded the middle of the park with superb performances. Eveyln McDonnell and Siana O’Grady gave their all up front also never giving time to the Kilshanvey defence on the ball. It was a fantastic performance from all the players, showcasing teamwork, resilience, and skill. A great way to finish the year as the team heads into the Christmas break with great momentum and confidence.  Match report: Niall Rohan 

Squad: Lucy Butler, Niamh Naughton, Grace Connolly, Aoife Walsh, Laoise Naughton, Muireann Roche, Shauna McDonagh, Maddie Rohan, Grace Jordan, Evelyn McDonnell, Siana O Grady, Laura Hayes

U12B Boys Div1/2 Cup. Maree/ Oranmore 3- 0 Colemanstown.  Colemanstown U12B Boys exited the Divisional Cup at the weekend with a 3-0 loss away to Maree/ Oranmore. Although playing with the breeze in the 1st half, it was a difficult performance in attack for the Colemanstown youngsters. The team created plenty of opportunities, but a bit of slack composure in front of goal meant they couldn’t capitalise on the chances presented. Cathal Burns, Oisin Kelly, Daniel Kelly, Dara Ryan and James Vignoles had goal chances throughout the game. At half time we saw ourselves 2-0 down & facing an uphill battle, playing into the breeze & very tough conditions in the 2nd half. The lads did their best to claw back the score in the 2nd half but the hosts were rock solid in defence. We conceded a late goal against the run of play to put the game firmly to bed, in a game in which the lads could have felt a bit hard done by. In truth the scoreline failed to do justice to the closeness or quality of the game. Match Report: Martina Donnellan 

Squad: Avey Mahon, Iarla Thompson, Oisin Kelly, Senan Prolux, Conor Finnerty, Cathal Burns, Patrick Collins, Dara Ryan, Daniel Kelly, Matthew Hansbury, Igor Ziolek, Eugene Kelly, James Flaherty, James Vignoles, Andrew Davoren. 

U16Boys Championship/ Div 1 Cup. Colemanstown 3 – 2 Oughterard. Yesterday, Sunday saw our U16 boys up against Oughterard FC in the divisional cup. With the weather not so pleasant in the morning it cleared just on time for kick off for what would turned out to be a fantastic contest. The visitors got off to a great start finding the net after just 6 mins. A poorly cleared corner to just outside the box was met by their fast approaching mid fielder who made no mistake with the strong breeze behind him. Up to this point Colemanstown were struggling to settle into the game but a couple of positional changes seemed to get rid of the nerves and as the first half went on their confidence started to grow.  Martin Mellody, Jamie Lally & Tom Holohan up front were finding their rhythm and were unlucky not to have levelled things. Colemanstown withstood the constant pressure to see out the half not conceding another with an outstanding defensive display. It’s often said that “it was a game of two halves” well this was most certainly the case for this game. After a regroup at half time and the wind at their backs Colemanstown started the second half full of confidence. 6 mins in, a slow play out from the back saw Paddy Gavin thread a lovely ball through for Jamie Lally to run onto, the breeze carried it a little too far and Jamie really had to work hard to hold off the defender and the advancing keeper but he did enough to force a save  from the keeper resulting in a corner. Paddy Gavin whipped in the corner straight to a crowded box with Tom Holohan directing it towards the goal while it took a deflection on its way to the back of the net. With it all square Colemanstown started to play some nice attacking football and looked very confident. However 18 mins in, they were dealt a blow when they were reduced to 10 men when Martin Mellody was dismissed for a 2nd bookable offence. Some positional adjustments were made which saw Tom Holohan drop back to mid field to help out the hard working Paddy Gavin, Tadhg Harte and Oisin Gavin which left Jamie lally as the lone striker up front.  Shortly after saw the introduction of Niall Robinson for the injured Oisin Gavin and Sean Keating for Daniel Booth. Colemanstown continued to cause problems for the Oughterard defence and kept pressing despite their numerical disadvantage. Similar to our 1st goal, the second came from a well played ball from Tom Holohan again for Jamie Lally to run onto, Jamie’s “never give up ” attitude forced another corner from the defender this time.  Again Paddy Gavin delivered a top class corner for Niall Robinson to rise above everyone and head home the lead for Colemanstown. With 6 mins to go Oughterard were pressing for an equaliser when Morgan Keogh intercepted a cross and played out of the danger area to James Somers. James set about on the counter attack carrying through a couple of hard challenges before playing Paddy Gavin through on goal. From an acute angle Paddy maintained his composure and lobbed the keeper perfectly to finish to the net. With only a couple of minutes left  Oughterard found a consolation goal which made the last few minutes exciting. The back line of James Somers, Morgan Keogh, Padraig Fallon and Sean Keating alongsidd keeper tommy Nutley were able to see off the pressure and progress to Round 2 of the Divisional Cup.  All in all it was a fantastic team performance and I have no doubt that the best is yet to come from this group of young men. A special thanks to Kerrill Lally who helped out on the day as Luca was unavailable.  Match Report: Seamie Somers.  Watch out… there’s a new journalistic star in town…

Squad: Tommy Nutley, James Somers, Morgan Keogh, Padraig Fallon, Daniel Booth, Oisin Gavin, Jamie Lally (C), Tom Holohan, Tadhg Harte, Paddy Gavin, Martin Mellody, Noah McDonnell, Sean Keating, Stephen Murphy, Ryan Shaughnessy, Niall Robinson, Jamie Cunniffe.