Colemanstown ladies notched their first win of the season with a hard earned 1-0 league victory in Kiltullagh on Tuesday night which saw two evenly matched teams go at it hammer & tongs. It was a victory built on guts and quality and will surely bring with it, some sweet relief.
Colemanstown started sluggish as Kiltullagh enjoyed most of the possession for the first 20 mins. It was good to see Yvonne Keary return to action, having sustained a broken ankle in the first round leg earlier in the season. It was fitting that her first game back was against the same opposition & Yvonne wasn’t afraid to get stuck in either with some timely tackles. In those first 20mins, Theresa Loughnane was simply powerful in goals & at one stage had to be fully alert to deal with a one-on-one point-blank effort. For the next 15mins Colemanstown took control with Katie Williams on the left wing instrumental in orchestrating those moves. The best chance of the half arrived after Serena Hansberry who bossed midfield, carved open Kiltullagh’s defence, crossed to Rebecca Clancy but Kiltullagh’s keeper was in great form & pulled off a whopper of a save.
The 2nd half recommenced in much the same vein as the early stages of the first half with Kiltullagh dominating the action. However, Colemanstown soaked up the pressure as Kiltullagh began to tire. In the last 20mins, Colemanstown had 3 brilliant chances as they pushed for the opening goal. Rachel O’Brien drew a great save; Serena Hansberry was just wide & Rebecca Clancy drew yet another fine stop from Kiltullagh’s custodian. Colemanstown at this stage had built up great momentum and the all elusive goal arrived with 10mins to go. Jessica Doherty linked up with Rachel O’Brien who found Rebecca Clancy and her volley found the net & with it, she took the wind out of Kiltullagh’s sails. The whole team almost did a Robbie Keane on it, with a few cartwheels up and down the Astro, celebrating their win with The Saw Doctors quietly playing in the background … ‘ oh to win just once … ‘ Colemanstown maintained possession after that as they certainly weren’t going to let this win slip away from them that easy. Final score: Colemanstown 1 – 0 Kiltullagh
This was a fantastic display from all 12 players who played their hearts out from start to finish, made that bit harder with little fresh legs to introduce. However, managers Philip Dee & Pat Delaney will gladly take the win with outstretched arms and say ‘Thank You.’ Well done ladies on a super display.
Squad: Theresa Loughnane, Clare Hannon, Sarah Kearney, Clare Keane, Leanne Devlin, Katie Williams, Serena Hansberry, Rachel O’Brien, Jessica Doherty, Chloe Gill, Rebecca Clancy, Yvonne Keary.