Colemanstown ‘A’ 2 – 1 Craughwell
Two quick first half goals was enough for Colemanstown A team to take full advantage of a hard earned home win over Craughwell and in so doing, prop themselves further up the Championship table. Both sides created little for the first 15mins until the opener came from Gareth Lally. Young Tommy Mellody full of energy, took on his man down the left wing winning a throw ball. As the ball was sent into the danger area, Craughwell’s clearance didn’t get very far, the ball fell to Gary Lally who side footed low past the keeper with an exquisite finish.
This ignited Colemanstown’s spirit & willingness to attack and once again they came with another goal on 19mins. Sean Hardy & Richie Lally did the donkey work at the back, found Luke Williams who had drifted forward on the right wing and his probing run drew a foul. Damo Wynne picked out Thady Moran on the near post with his pinpoint delivery & Thady finished with genuine quality. On 38mins Gary Lally had another good chance as the ball fell kindly for him, went to shoot with his right, pulled the ball back to his left foot, his effort took a deflection on route, fell nicely for Thady whose low hard drilled effort wasn’t too far off the mark. There was a long stoppage in play due to a shoulder injury to Tom Broderick who had fallen awkwardly on making a save in the subsequent passage of play. The injury resulted in a dislocated shoulder and we wish both Tom and Richie Lally who also had to depart the game early due to injury, a speedy recovery. Alan Junior Finn fresh from a trip to the barbers, was sprung from the bench, hardly recognisable without the pony tail, donned the No.16 shirt and quickly he fixed up the new crew cut before taking up his position between the posts. The sides parted at the break with Colemanstown 2 up.
9mins after the restart, a long kick out from Junior to Damo Wynne found Jack Kennedy on the right but the keeper saved his effort while straight down the other end, Junior had to be vigilant. Gareth Lally conjured another shot from distance 18mins in after a super delivery from Thady Moran but the keeper went down well to make the stop. Midway through the 2nd half, Craughwell were in the ascendancy as Junior was called upon to make 3 consecutive saves. On 26mins Junior made a world class save, to save the day, in a one-on-one effort, akin to Martinez last minute save in the World Cup Final. At this stage Ronan Carr who was solid at left back all through gave way for Daniel ‘Maco’ Masterson and Luke Williams moved to left back as Maco slotted in at right back. Just on the half hour mark Craughwell pulled one back to set up an intense last 15mins. Craughwell piled on the pressure in those last minutes but Luke Williams, Sean Hardy, Keith Donnellan & Maco defended stoutly as it was down to guts, not quality with plenty of intensity. Colemanstown held out for a 2-1 win with moments of genuine quality from youngsters Luke Williams at right back & Tommy Mellody on the left wing, both just 16 years and gave it 110%. Padraig Quirke again showed his ageless qualities while Colemanstown could draw comfort from a superb Thady Moran & Damo Wynne in midfield, a solid back line & Gary Lally confirmed again that there is no antidote to pace up front. At the final whistle, there was sheer joy that nearly makes you float in thin air. Well done lads on a great performance in tough underfoot conditions.
Squad: Tom Broderick, Luke Williams, Sean Hardiman, Keith Donnellan, Ronan Carr, Damien Wynne, Padraig Quirke, Thady Moran, Richie Lally, Tommy Mellody, Gareth Lally, Jack Kennedy, Alan ‘Junior’ Finn, Daniel Masterson, Harry Mitchell, Ciaran Keating.