U13 boys Championship 2. Loughrea Rams 5 – 2 Colemanstown Utd FC. On a chilly, wet, windy Saturday morning our U13A boys travelled to Loughrea for their first taste of competitive 11 a side football. Playing into a stiff breeze for the first half Colemanstown enjoyed plenty of possession but failed to keep possession for long spells. Phelim Flynn in goals had a relatively quiet first quarter as our back 4 of Aaron Burke, Chris Burke, George Costello and Matt Feeney were playing superbly while under a lot of pressure from the hosts. The pressure finally paid off when a sweetly struck corner came off the shoulder of one of our boys in the box and ended up in the net. Loughrea hit again shortly after when a free kick from just inside the half way line wasn’t cleared properly and a Loughrea striker headed the ball into the net. We had a few chances ourselves with Evan Molloy’s free kick being the most clear cut but went narrowly wide. Efforts from Se Laffey, Jack Grealish and Daniel Kelly failed to test the keeper but eventually Frank Dunne was taken down outside the box after a great individual run at the Loughrea defence. Frank stepped up and hit a rocket into the bottom corner to give us a badly needed lift. The boys pushed for the equaliser which nearly came except for the fingertips of the Loughrea keeper denying us and from that Loughrea broke down the right wing. The winger crossed the ball across the 6 yard box but was cut out by the defence. The strength of the wind pushed the ball onto the crossbar and the rebound fell to the Loughrea striker who had the simple task of finishing from 2 yards out. 3-1 to the hosts at the break.
At half time Kerrill Walsh replaced Phelim in goals while James Kilkenny and Eoghan O’Neill came in for Jack Grealish and Daniel Kelly. We started the second half strong although the wind and rain had eased off. Oisin Flannery was controlling midfield and getting a few attacks going. Mark Shaughnessy and Eoghan Burke replaced Se and Aaron and this gave us a new lease of life again. Mark Shaughnessy picked up a ball on the edge of our box and sprayed a lovely pass to James Kilkenny on the right wing. James put a beautiful curling through ball behind the Loughrea rear guard for the inrushing Frank Dunne at the back post who finished superbly despite the attentions af the defender and goalkeeper. This was the goal of the game which even the host coaching team applauded. 3-2 now and the boys sensed they could get the equaliser. Ethan Monaghan took over from Matt Feeney at left back. As we pushed on for the equaliser our hopes were dashed when a Loughrea attack was saved on the line but not cleared quick enough and they poked the ball home. The final goal was to be Loughrea’s from a free kick hit high into the roof of the net. 5-2 the final score. Match Report: Adrian Burke
Squad: Phelim Flynn, Chris Burke, George Costello, Ethan Monaghan, Mark Shaughnessy, Evan Molloy, Jack Grealish, Eoghan Burke, Frank Dunne, Kerrill Walsh, Aaron Burke, Conor Egan, Matt Feeney, James Kilkenny, Oisin Flannery, Se Laffey, Daniel Kelly, Eoghan O’Neill.
Colemanstown U13B Boys Div2. Our U13 B team travelled into the Claddagh to take on West Utd in the first league game of the season. It was a wet, cold and windy morning as the boys won the toss and opted to play with the wind. Senan Prolux captained the team on this occasion. West Utd took control of the game early on and were 1-0 up after 5 minutes with a shot that Avey Mahon could do little about between the posts. Cathal Burns tried to impose himself on the game from centre midfield playing alongside George Moore, Shane Broderick and Dara Ryan. Up front, Jamie Lally and Andrew Davoren tried to get involved but as conditions worsened were unable to get much time on the ball. Conor Finnerty and Senan played in centre back flanked by Iarla Thomson and Oisin Duane. West Utd doubled the lead after 15 minutes just as Oisin Kelly was introduced. Our lads battled away in heavy rain and found themselves 4 down at half time.
Igor Ziolek and Patrick Collins replaced Cathal Burns and Andrew Davoran at half time as we tried to regroup and rest some tired legs who played an U12 game the night before. But West Utd didn’t allow us to get back into the game and were 5 up within 5 minutes of the restart. Conor Finnerty, who had moved into midfield had to be substituted after getting caught in the face with a wayward arm. James Flaterty and James Vignoles came on shortly after. But West Utd didn’t let up and scored a 6th. Cathal Burns, Eugene Kelly and Dara Ryan replaced George Moore, Iarla Thomson and Jamie Lally as we pushed for a consolation goal and we had some decent opportunities but just didn’t have that final cutting edge. Finally, our pressure paid off when we were awarded a penalty only for Cathal Burns’ fine spot kick to be excellently saved by West United’s keeper. All in all it was a disappointing result as the game finished 6-0 with lots for us to work on over the coming weeks but with the full season ahead of us, lots of games to make amends. Match Report: Dermot Moore.
