U12 Girls Connacht Cup: Round 2. Colemanstown 2 – 2 Strokestown. (Colemanstown won 3-2 on penalties). Our U12 Girls welcomed Strokestown to Colemanstown on Saturday for Round 2 of the Conn Cup. Colemanstown Utd started strong with a solid defence of Aislinn Murray, Jade Devaney and Faye Ryan breaking up attacks & letting nothing by them. Great work on the left saw Ava Forde win the ball in midfield, involved Ruby Lally & culminated in Holly Mellody finishing smartly into the bottom corner. At this stage Colemanstown were on top with wind advantage & kept pressing for a 2nd goal cushion with Lauren O’Grady, Ruby Lally & Lucy Burke Hardiman pulling the strings at midfield. Lucy originated the move which led to our 2nd goal when she fought hard to win the ball in midfield & threaded a lovely ball through for Ava to latch on to & she made no mistake in finding the bottom corner to put us 2-0 in charge. We created a few more chances through Helia Costello & Lauren O’Grady but were unable to capitalise on the finish. Strokestown had a chance but Aislinn Murray let nothing by her in the 1st half. 2-0 to Colemanstown at half time. From the outset of the 2nd half, Strokestown came out with intent & created a few chances but Lauren O ‘Grady kept breaking up their attack and kept us on the front foot. Ciara Maybin & Erin Holmes were introduced & we created a few more chances through Lauren O’Grady, Lucy Burke Hardiman & Ava Forde but we were unable to capitalise. Then Strokestown broke from midfield, with their player fouled inside the box & quickly the ref awarded a penalty. Emily Tuohy stood tall in the Colemanstown goal & made a super save. Shortly after their missed penalty Strokestown did pull one back. It was tit for tat right until the end when Strokestown drew level almost at the death. 2-2 at full time & so to dreaded penalties. In the shootout Lauren O’Grady, Aislinn Murray and Jade Devaney scored their penalties and Emily Tuohy saved four penalties. Yes you read that correctly. 4 fine stops plus the penalty stop during the match. Her master class in the shootout was nothing short of spectacular & helped propel her team mates & Colemanstown U12 Girls into Round 3 of the Connacht Cup. Very well done lassies! Match report: Barry Forde.
U14 Girls Connacht Shield. Colemanstown 3 -4 Loughrea. There was so much to admire about Niall Rohan’s young charges when 1st Division side Colemanstown took on Championship side Loughrea in the Connacht Shield at home on Saturday. This match had it all. Colemanstown were 2-1 up with 20mins to go & what a whopping last 20mins both sides produced. The first 10mins was an evenly contested affair with Tia Loughnane holding the ball up well for Emma Collins on the left & Leah Hansberry on the right side. It took 15mins for Loughrea to break the deadlock when their striker did great individual work to find the bottom corner. Colemanstown restored parity on the half hour mark when Tia Loughnane won the ball in midfield, throttled forward, leaving a few defenders in her wake before neatly tucking the ball past the keeper. 1-1 at the break. Loughrea restarted the 2nd half a revitalised outfit showing the quality of a Championship team & forced our net minder Lucy Butler into a string of top class saves. Grace Connolly & Kate Mitchell stood firm at the back with some timely interceptions when Loughrea had finding the net on their minds. Muireann Roche, Shauna McDonagh & Emily Rohan worked superbly hard in midfield as Colemanstown did their utmost to grow into the 2nd half. Their hard work was rewarded just shy of the quarter hour mark when following a goalmouth scramble Emily Rohan did enough to poke the ball home to put Colemanstown 2-1 up. Colemanstown stoutly defended the lead with Niamh Naughton & Aoife Walsh playing with their hearts on their sleeves in the right & left corners respectively. Then came a moment of madness from Loughrea’s towering centre forward as Colemanstown’s resilience was finally breached with 10mins to go as they scored twice in quick succession, against the run of play leaving the Colemanstown girls a bit shell shocked. As Colemanstown battled for the equaliser it was Loughrea who snuck in to score a 4th & it looked like the game had completely slipped away from the Colemanstown youngsters with 5mins to play. Emily Rohan provided a way of magic as she picked up the ball on the edge of the box, rounded her player before firing to the net to set up a nervy finale. The last minutes were for the footie purests as Colemanstown were camped in the Loughrea half frantically trying to salvage an equaliser but time ran out on our gallant U12 Girls team. Final score: Colemanstown 3 – 4 Loughrea. Match Report: Niall Rohan.
Squad: Lucy Butler, Grace Connolly, Kate Mitchell, Aoife Walsh, Niamh Naughton, Emily Rohan, Shauna McDonagh, Muireann Roche, Emma Collins, Leah Hansberry, Tia Loughnane, Maddie Rohan, Grace Jordan, Evelyn McDonnell, Tara Dillon.