Yet another league loss was inflicted on our A team at home on Saturday at the hands of Loughrea. Although the final score may suggest otherwise, the lads had big chances particularly in the first half which they failed to execute but when you concede 7 goals, I’m not sure you can say it could have been 7-7!!. The lads have been on a streak of losses this season and in fairness, a lot of games have come down to a bad call by the ref, a poor bounce, a wrong foot, a mis-timed tackle – any of which can be the difference between a good result or a bad story.
For the first time since the league opener, Alan ‘Junior’ Finn was back between the posts for this latest encounter but on 7mins, he received a head injury and had to retire for a while before thankfully he returned to the action later in the game. The game was just a minute old when Jayo Finn was on the end of a Thady Moran free from near the dugouts but he headed onto the ground and safely into the clutches of the keeper. Almost straight from the kick out Loughrea opened their account when the defence were caught napping and a low hard effort was drilled from the edge of the 18’ box into the far corner. On 7mins Loughrea made it 2-0 as Junior advanced to meet a cross and received a head injury in the process, culminating in a long stoppage to attend to the head injury and right back Conal Docherty assumed the keepers position. Straight from the resumption of play, Richie Lally was taken down, Thady Moran delivered the free and Mossy Carr got a boot to it to make it 2-1 on 10mins. 5mins later the visitors scored again from a set piece – a corner swung in which they got a head to & it thundered off the underside of the crossbar and over the line. A good run down the right flank from Ryan Noone found Donal Loftus in the box who was taken down; Richie took the penalty but the keeper stretched well to his right to get a hand to it. On the half hour mark, Thady Moran made a good run down the left, sent in a dangerous cross which was mis-timed by the keeper and into the net. 5 goals with 30mins played. One wondered could there have been a charge on the gate to watch this one!
5 mins later Loughrea scored again as an attempted combined block by Jason Finn & Richie Lally failed, both were floored in the process and although Junior got his hand to the shot it scrambled over the line, not even reaching the net. 3 mins later Loughrea broke again on the counter and a cross from the right deflected off the post & their striker pounced on the rebound to tap home their 5th of the half. To exacerbate things, Richie Lally was carried off with a leg injury just before the half ended and a long free kick from Loughrea was finished on the back post. After 52mins of the first half, due to Junior & Richie injury stoppages it was an uphill battle for a depleted Colemanstown squad on a half time scoreline of 6-2.
Loughrea restarted strong as the speedy Bruno went on a good run but Junior pulled off a great save in a one-on-one effort. Thady Moran fired over a free after Damo Wynne was taken down and Ryan Noone had a good chance but his shot was weak and easily gathered by the Loughrea custodian. Junior made another point blank save from Bruno while midway through the half Donal Loftus made a super run down the stand side of the field, managed a good cross to Wynner who shot wide of the right post. Donal Loftus had another half chance which was mis-hit with the ball falling to Sean Hardy who drove it out on the roadside pitch. Just 5mins to go Loughrea scored again, with Bruno providing the assist to make it 7-2. On the stroke of the full time Jayo Finn saw his low hard effort saved by the keeper.
It looks like this team might be on a little slump but they’re far from hitting the panic button just yet. No team is immune to losing a lot of games in a short period of time. In short: It happens to everybody, no matter who you are. Injuries and unavailability of key players a telling factor no doubt this year. But certainly the lads put together some excellent passages of play and are not as bad as recent scorelines would otherwise suggest. Next weekend sees the visit of Leitrim side Manor Rangers in the Connacht Cup and hopefully a stroke of good fortune will come too.