Colemanstown have to settle for Division 1 football again next season as they lost 3-2 to Corofin in what was another truly epic display as they dominated large patches of the first half and the latter exchanges of the second half. It was their inability to take their chances that plotted this downfall although ‘downfall’ is probably the wrong word to use as in truth they put in a fantastic team effort and display. It takes a fair team to come back from 3-0 down on 75mins to 3-2 and if they had had the rub of the green in truth they should have won 7-3. Colemanstown dominated the entire first half in what was end to end stuff. Corofin’s first effort came on 12mins from a set-piece but as a Colemanstown defender shouted ‘Are you awake Junior’, the custodian himself was equal to the task. On 18 mins Corofin forced a good save from Alan ‘junior’ Finn as the ball was quickly played up the other end and Flan had a piledriver from the edge of the 18’ box which he drove over the bar. Ray Moran then had a couple of chances on 20 & 25mins but again failed to yield a score. On 28mins Corofin went near from a set-piece after the Colemanstown defence were adjudged to have pushed the Corofin striker as he burst into the box. Immediately from the kick out, Tom Flan got on the end of a Colemanstown delivery and with some dinky footwork and individual play his piledriver was pushed out for a corner by the Corofin keeper. Subsequently a period of sustained pressure from Colemanstown saw shots at goal from Alan Finn, Squelchy, & Ray Moran but all were blocked. Another piledriver from Ray Moran on 39mins was blasted over the bar and one wondered would it be one of those evenings! Then on 42mins Corofin capitalised on a rare straight forward chance as Garry O’ Grady slipped at the inopportune time and the Corofin striker calmly dispatched his one on one attempt. Shortly after the resumption Corofin scored against the run of play as Colemanstown appeared to be getting a little frustrated by their opportunities missed. Flan had another chance to bamboozle the Corofin defence when his diving header was inches wide after a perfect delivery from Damo Wynne. A further series of sustained pressure saw 4 consecutive corners taken by Ray Moran & Paddy Mullins, now introduced for Squelchy, but again nothing resulted. On 63mins, Corofin were awarded a penalty after a foul on the edge of the box and they duly converted to make it 3-0. This sucked the air out of the Colemanstown players and indeed the fans were numbed to see the net rattle. Colemanstown then went through a scrappy phase as the heads dropped. It took a while again for Colemanstown to settle and recover their composure as Ritchie Lally in the middle of the park brought them back to life. In great pressing play he burst forward into the box and was taken down in the process. Flan converted the resultant penalty and one wondered was time on our side with 2 more to pull back. On 77mins Colemanstown capitalised on another period of sustained pressure as a Colemanstown corner was defended well but fell nicely for Ritchie Lally whose low hard drive found the net. At this stage Niall Gelston was sparking the sizeable Colemanstown contingent on the sideline to life. Game on…. Junior made a whopping save on 80mins and one thought we might snatch a draw, we deserved it, if nothing else for passion, drive, discipline, and will to win… indeed it would have been the fairest result. Great play from Paddy Mullins & Damo Wynne resulted in a perfect cross to the inrushing Tom Flan but he was millimetres away from meeting the delivery. The latter exchanges were completely dominated by Colemanstown. Shots at goal by Ray Moran, Ritchie Lally & Tom Flan from consecutive corners failed to produce an equaliser and time was ticking by too fast. Then Flan hit the post with an acute shot from the endline and this surely was last gasp stuff. Another corner from Alan Finn deep in to injury time was met by a half bicycle kick from Ray Moran which went agonisingly wide of the post on a night of missed chances for Colemanstown. It was not to be however as the final whistle came with 4mins additional time played. But no matter they have provided us with great entertainment all season and for all the ‘downs’, there will also be ‘ups’. They showed true grit at the point where one could say there was no way back at 3-0 down and to show the character they did to graft out 2 goals and unlucky not to have scored the equaliser. There’s no doubt but there is a fine line between success and failure, and wins and losses but sure there’s a good life lesson there for us all! Well done lads on a great performance and very hard luck.