U12 Girls & U18 lads action against Kiltulla

U12 Girls vs Kiltulla  – Report by Zoe Kennedy
The U12 Colemanstown girls played out a very fast paced League match clash against Kiltullagh at home this morning.  The defence line of Aisling Ruane, Lillie Kirby and Anna Barrett held out strong against a very capable and solid Kiltullagh squad in the first half. Their hard work and perseverance saw the girls intercept, control and clear numerous balls back to the midfield line.

Roisin Keague was in top form this morning and along with Eva Molloy, Grace Mitchell and captain today, Rachel Kennedy ensured there was some lovely passing up the field and heaps of through balls into the box for a great number of attempts on goal. An impressive volley by Lillie Kirby into the scoring area was collected by Roisin Keague which nearly resulted in a goal after it was passed to Chloe Flynn but Kiltullagh’s defensive line was rock solid. Eva Molloy must have run the length of the pitch a dozen times over in her quest to deliver ball after ball to the waiting strikers. I don’t quite know where she gets her energy from. Superb mornings work Eva!! Well done to Anna Barrett, Megan de Vos, Rachel Kennedy and Chloe Flynn who all had a number of attempts on goal this morning!

Keeper Ruby Lynch is, quite frankly worthy of an entire paragraph of this report just to herself. I am not sure I can even do her justice in highlighting her brilliance, quick thinking and super human efforts this morning as she was put under pressure from a rain of shots on the pitch. Brilliant, amazing, fast , …just don’t seem to fully describe this amazing keeper this morning. She was certainly in top form and wowed the crowd from both clubs. Ruby, this whole paragraph is just for you!

The second half saw our girls really step it up and they came out very strong. Defenders Sophie Kelly and Tara Lally made light work of any threatening crosses by the Kiltullagh strikers and midfielders Lilanna King , Aoibhin Thompson , Grace Mitchell and Aoife Hynes all did a magnificent job of ensuring the run of play to the strikers and Megan de Vos made some lovely crosses into the box.

Special mention has to go to Chloe Flynn this morning who just had a phenomenal match. She was a joy to watch as she weaved in and out of the visiting players, the ball practically glued to her boot as she drove the ball up the field. Well done Chloe. Just when the girl’s heads started to dip Eva Molloy passed in a lovely ball to Chloe Flynn who crossed it into the box to Grace Mitchell who powered it into the net. Goal! …. Grace, who had been waiting all morning to do the Celebratory Dance was in her element and she and a number of the girls celebrated away to their hearts content. We may not have won the match but the girls were outstanding in their performance this morning. Our young squad will continue to come up against much older and experienced teams like they did this morning. But when you see so much superb teamwork, great passing, goal attempts and heart stopping saves (no exaggeration about the saves) then you know that a super morning was had by all. Unfortunately, the result didn’t go our way with a 3-1 loss but who cares about the result once the squad enjoy themselves, gel together, make lasting friendships, develop communication skills, feel a sense of the wider community, and learn to respect their teammates and coaches. That’s what it’s all about. Results are a bonus.

U18s vs Kiltulla

Our U18s had a rough day today in Kiltulla as they found the going tough against a big, physical Kiltulla outfit. Kiltulla opened their account as early as 3mins with a long ball over the top for their towering No. 11 to run on to and although Robert Cosgrove was on his tail, he dispatched his finish well. Ryan Noone had a half chance soon after but popped his effort over the bar. 4 mins later, Kiltulla ran through the middle and as Colemanstown’s rearguard failed to clear Kiltulla pounced again with their 2nd goal. Fionn O’Connor floated in 2 consecutive frees after first Connor Booth was fouled & then Rob Cosgrove but the keeper saved well on the first effort and Kiltulla’s defence were well on top to defend the 2nd free kick.

On 22mins a free pumped in from Kiltulla bobbled around in the box and after some hesitancy in Colemnastown’s defence, Kiltulla got a final boot to it but Kyle Greaney made a good save. A low hard drill from the edge of the 18’ box drew another diving save from Greaney to prevent further destruction.  On 28mins Rob Cosgrove played Ryan Noone whose cross found debutant Donal Loftus who wasn’t too far away from finishing. The best effort of the half came after a good passage of play from Luke Mitchell whose positive run down the right flank fed Ryan Noone and his chipped ball found the head of Connor Booth who headed straight at the keeper. Kiltulla went on the attack from the resultant punt down field which saw Kyle Greaney again make a good diving save from Kiltulla’s No. 9.

Another long kick-out from Greaney found the pacey Ryan Noone who was falling as he got his shot in but again the keeper stood his ground well. Donal Loftus was drifting out the field to win the ball and as he found Luke Mitchell, he cut in across the box and shot from a difficult angle but the keeper spread himself well to make the stop on 42mins. Kiltulla got a 3rd just before half time when a long ball split the defence who at the time didn’t look all that well switched on, and their striker slotted neatly under the advancing body of Kyle Greaney. 3-0 half time.

Colemanstown restarted the half with some positional changes and changed their formation to 4-5-1. They played better passing football in the 2nd half as Donal Loftus lorded things in the middle of the field when changed to centre midfield. Luke Lally, Alan Feeley, Michael Flattery, Conor Moran, Michael Concannon, Trevor Forde & keeper Adrian Feeley all got in on the action. Colemanstown weren’t as flat as they strung their passes together with more fluency & effectiveness as the ball was contained for much of the game around the middle third. Colemanstown got one back with quarter hour to go as Conor Byron won the ball at left back, played Luke Mitchell whose hopeful cross found Michael Flattery who teed the ball up nicely for himself and volleyed to the top corner. This gave some brief hope that Colemnastown might claw back another but it was Kiltulla who had the final say as they scored another with minutes left to finish out the game emphatic 5-1 winners.

We wish Ryan Noone a speedy recovery as hobbled off injured.

Squad: Kyle Greaney, Dec O’Brien, Dara Hansberry, Fionn O’Connor, Conor Byron, Luke Mitchell, Rob Cosgrove, Mark Donnellan, Connor Booth, Donal Loftus, Ryan Noone, Alan Feeley, Luke Lally, Conor Moran, Michael Concannon, Trevor Forde, Adrian Feeley.