Junior Men’s Championship: Mervue 1 – 1 Colemanstown. Colemanstown started their latest league game well with some early pressure to dominate the early exchanges. Geordan Kenny whacked the crossbar early on when the ball deflected off the wall for a free kick while Sean Hardiman was over with his effort. Then kinda against the run of play, we conceded a penalty & the Mervue striker made no mistake with the spot kick with 10mins to play in the 1st half. Junior had a solid first half with some fine goalkeeping & consistently good kick outs. 1-0 to Mervue at the break. Colemanstown started the 2nd half well & scored just shy of 4mins through Callum McKelvey with the delivery from Dylan Grady, added to by Kevin Barrett which saw McKelvey finish on a half turn to find the bottom left corner & put us firmly back in contention. We maintained the pressure for most of the 2nd half in what was a tough physical encounter which brought with it some scrappy play at times. Cathal Kitt was introduced up top which saw Callum McKelvey redeployed to midfield. We played some decent football with the best chance of the half falling to Kevin Barrett. James Colleavy delivered a ball from the left, Callum McKelvey took it on the turn towards the back post, the ball was pulled back by Keith Mannion where Kevin Barrett saw the final effort saved on the goal line. Colemanstown survived a late scare with plenty of deliveries into the box but the Colemanstown defence stood firm, boosted by the return of centre back Luke Williams who had a fine game throughout. Overall it was a great team performance worthy of a least a point. Final score from Mervue: Mervue 1 -1 Colemanstown. Match report: Andy McKelvey.
Starting XI: Alan Finn, Dylan Grady, Sean Hardiman, Luke Williams, Geordan Kenny, Kerrill Hardiman, Mossy Carr, Kevin Barrett, Keith Mannion, Jamsie Colleavy, Callum McKelvey.
U14 Boys Division 2 Colemanstown Utd 2 -2 Cregmore Claregalway. Alan Walsh’s young men earned a 2-2 draw at home on Saturday against a fighting Cregmore/ Claregalway in the league. Colemanstown took an early lead through a penalty after Daithi Burns was taken down & he stepped up himself to convert the resultant penalty. As both teams battled through a tightly contested match, it was Colemanstown who doubled their advantage. Great work on the right wing from Finian Walsh & Dermot Parker culminated in a cross into the box which was finished by Daithi Burns to claim his brace by 20mins with a lovely clinical finish. A tactical switch was employed after in a bid to quieten the hosts No 10 who was bossing the game. Sean Forde was introduced & Owen Hillary switched to the wing. Cregmore continued to push forward creating several chances to extend their lead. They pulled a goal back just before the break, from a setpiece. A corner delivered into the box & their striker rose highest in the box for an unmarked header while just beforehand Jack Barrett was introduced at centre back. In the 2nd half, we failed to create many meaningful chances apart from a few half chances from Owen Hillary & Daniel Ruane as Liam O’Connor worked tirelessly in defence. Tim Ruane, Thomas Kennedy & Gearoid Griffin all saw 2nd half action. The hosts forced the game to end in stalemate when Aidan Quinn tipped the ball around the post; the resultant corner was whipped in, our defence failed to clear & as the ball bobbled around in the box, one of our players was adjudged to have fouled & immediately the ref pointed to the spot which they duly converted to level the game at 2-2. Despite both teams pushing for a winner in the closing minutes, the match ended in a hard-fought 2-2 home draw. It was a game in which we rued our missed chances. Match report: Martina Donnellan
Squad: Aidan Quinn, Liam O’Connor, Oisin Nugent, Darragh Finnerty, Daragh Blake, Daithi Burns, Owen Hillary, Dermot Parker, Finian Walsh, David Barrett, Daniel Ruane, Sean Forde, Mikey Nutley, Gearoid Griffin, Jack Barrett, Danny Mitchell, Tim Ruane, Thomas Kennedy.
U12 Boys Division 2 Colemanstown Utd B 2 – 2 Cregmore Claregalway B. On Saturday 9th November, Colemanstown United U12B team welcomed table toppers Cregmore / Claregalway to play our 5th league game of the season. With Cregmore / Claregalway on 12 points (4 wins from 4) and Colemanstown on 9 points (3 wins from 4), it was a game in which we needed to get points to keep the leaders in touching distance. The game started off at a blistering pace and the quality of the opposition was obvious from the start. Both teams were really up for the match and there was a clear intent on both sides that both teams were here to try to secure full points. Both sides traded chances before Cregmore / Claregalway finally made the break through with a goal on the 20th minute when a ball broke kindly for them and they made no mistake in finishing to the Colemanstown net. We regrouped after the kick off and again both teams created some good moves but the defences were solid. At half time it was 1 – 0 to Cregmore / Claregalway. The second half started brightly for Colemanstown who now seemed more comfortable with the pace of the game and were piling on the pressure on the Cregmore / Claregalway defence. After some very slick passing by our mid fielders and a final pass threaded through by Patrick Collins it left Cathal Burns one on one with their goal keeper and he finished brilliantly to the bottom corner of the net. Back on level terms 5mins into the second half. At this stage Colemanstown were full of confidence after scoring and continued to create more chances. All the players were really putting in their best performance so far this season and on the 41st minute when Patrick Collins was fouled it left us with a free kick straight in front of goal just outside the box. Up stepped Cathal Burns and scored with a sublime free to the top corner of the net, unstoppable & very similar to his goal against Oughterard. The game continued at a frantic pace and with both defences on top until the 54th minute when somehow Cregmore / Claregalway found themselves on the end of a clearance and from long distance they finished to the roof of the Colemanstown net. 2 – 2 heading into the final 5 minutes. At this stage Cregmore / Claregalway were finishing the stronger and they piled on the pressure for the remaining 5 minutes, but Colemanstown fought to the bitter end and were well deserving of a share of the points. It was a game both teams could have won or lost but a draw was a fair result on the day. Match Report: Peter Kelly.
Squad: Avey Mahon, Matthew Hansbury, Iarla Thompson, Oisin Kelly, James Flaherty, Senan Prolux, Igor Ziolek, Eugene Kelly, Daniel Kelly, Cathal Burns, Conor Finnerty, James Vignoles, Dara Ryan, Andrew Davoren, Eoghan Burke, Shane Broderick & Patrick Collins.