U21 Men: Colemanstown United 4–0 Renmore: Colemanstown United’s U21 men made it three league wins in a row with an impressive 4–0 victory over Renmore under the lights at home on Wednesday night. The first half was evenly matched, with both sides creating chances. Renmore looked more dangerous early on, particularly through midfield, but our defence and goalkeeper Conor Walsh dealt with everything comfortably.
On 14 minutes, Oisín Devine picked out Ryan Gavin’s run into the box. Gavin looked to be through on goal, but a Renmore centre back did well to snuff out the chance. On 20 minutes, Cathal Keane intercepted a long Renmore ball, and his headed clearance fell to Paddy Gavin. Paddy neatly controlled it and flicked it over the Renmore defence for Devine, whose pace took him into the right side of the box. From a tight angle, he forced a great save from the keeper, who turned it behind for a corner.
On 30 minutes, Matthew Keane’s free kick from around halfway dropped to captain Josh Buckley in the box. With his back to goal, Josh headed it up to himself and tried an overhead kick, but the keeper saved it. It would have been some goal if it came off! On 34 minutes, left back Eibhear Colleran won the ball back, got his head up and crossed for Kyle Madden, whose header went just over the bar.
At half-time, Stephen Raftery came on for Conor Van Oosterhout, who was on a yellow card, and Daniel Keating replaced Eibhear Colleran. Colemanstown were immediately on the front foot, controlling possession and looking far more dangerous. Tyler Collins went down injured on 48 minutes and was replaced by Nathan Mannion, who got straight into the game with his trademark challenges, winning the ball back for his team.
On 51 minutes, Madden found Keating in the box, but his header went just over. Keating was a real nuisance for Renmore after coming on, and his height made him a constant threat from set pieces. Sean Butler replaced Paddy Gavin on 56 minutes. The breakthrough came on 63 minutes with a superb team goal. Raftery won the ball in the Renmore half, and recycled it back through Buckley to Walsh. Walsh went long to “Dan the Man” Keating, who controlled brilliantly on his chest and laid it off to Madden. Madden found M. Keane at the top of the box, and Keane exchanged a one-two with Raftery before playing it wide to Butler. Keane continued his run on the overlap, collected a lovely backheel from Butler, skipped past two defenders along the end line and drilled a low ball across goal. Renmore’s clearance was poor, and Raftery arrived to blast home first time, low into the net. It was a super finish and his first goal for Colemanstown. At 68 minutes, Philip Fitzgerald came on for O.Devine.
About four minutes later, we doubled the lead. M. Keane whipped in a low corner, and Keating smashed it home from inside the six-yard box for his first goal of the season. Donnacha Walsh replaced Madden on 75 minutes. On 77 minutes, Keating struck again from another corner, heading home at the back post to make it 3–0. Dylan King came on for M. Keane on 80 minutes and was unlucky not to score, with two chances inside the edge of the box.
On 89 minutes, Ryan Gavin’s corner was cleared at the near post. Butler gathered and played it back to Gavin, who whipped in a first-time cross. Renmore cleared it poorly again, and it fell to Buckley at the top of the box. He controlled it neatly and slotted it into the bottom right corner with the inside of his foot. That made it 4–0 and the centre back’s third goal of the season to round off
a great all-round performance, with a much improved second half. The result moves Colemanstown up to third in the table on 9 points, just one point behind Knocknacarra (top) and Cois Fharraige (second), who are both on 10 points. With the points so tight at the top, there’s everything to play for. Next up: MacDara (away), Wednesday 18 November, in Carraroe.
Player of the match: Goes to Daniel Keating. Introduced up front at half time, he caused Renmore trouble from the moment he came on. He gave us a real focal point in attack, holding the ball up superbly and bringing his teammates into play, as he showed with his brilliant chest control in the build up to our opener. His height made him a constant threat from set pieces, and he capitalised with two goals from corners. A brace in goals and a superb impact off the bench. Match Report: Kara Mullins.
Squad: Conor Walsh, Eibhear Colleran, Cathal Keane, Josh Buckley(C), Tyler Collins, Oisin Devine, Conor Van Oosterhout (VC), Matthew Keane, Ryan Gavin, Kyle Madden, Paddy Gavin, Daniel Keating, Nathan Mannion, Sean Butler, Stephen Raftery, Dylan King, Donnacha Walsh, Philip Fitzgerald, Kyle Delaney, Ross Lally, Darren Moran. Management: Orla McCaffrey & Kara Mullins.
Men’s Championship: Colemanstown United 0–2 Maree/Oranmore B. It was a disappointing Friday night for Colemanstown as they came away empty-handed despite enjoying plenty of possession and playing some good football throughout large periods of the game.
Colemanstown dominated much of the opening exchanges and created a number of promising opportunities. An early effort was brilliantly blocked by a Maree/Oranmore defender, while Tomás Flannery also went close on a couple of occasions, only to be denied by the goalkeeper. Colemanstown enjoyed a number of set-piece opportunities but were unable to make them count.
Maree/Oranmore remained a threat on the counter-attack and from set pieces, but Colemanstown will have been disappointed to go in level at the break having controlled much of the first half. The home side played some nice football, mixing patient possession with a more direct approach which caused Maree/Oranmore problems.
The opening ten minutes of the second half were relatively even, with neither side creating any clear-cut opportunities. However, Maree/Oranmore broke the deadlock on 56 minutes when their midfielder slipped in the right winger, who calmly finished past Alan Finn to make it 1–0. Colemanstown responded with a triple substitution, as David Walsh replaced James Collevy, Thady Moran came on for Adam Wynne and Oisín Devine replaced Kyle Madden, with fresh energy needed for the final half an hour.
With Colemanstown pushing hard for an equaliser, Daniel Keating and Martin Melody were also introduced for Kevin Barrett and Tomás Carr with fifteen minutes remaining, as the home side looked to find that breakthrough goal. Despite throwing everything at Maree/Oranmore, the visitors defended resolutely and frustrated Colemanstown throughout. With Colemanstown committing bodies forward in the closing stages, Maree/Oranmore eventually sealed the points with a second goal on the counter-attack, their left winger finishing to make it 2–0.
It was a frustrating result for Colemanstown, who will feel they had enough good spells and opportunities to get something from the game. Credit must go to Maree/Oranmore, however, who defended superbly and took their chances when they came. Sean Hardiman was outstanding for Colemanstown on the night, producing an excellent performance throughout. The lads will now look to regroup ahead of a huge challenge as they welcome Galway Premier League champions Colga FC to Colemanstown on Sunday week, with a 2pm kick-off in the FAI Junior Cup.
Starting XI: Alan Finn, Shane Duffy, James Collevy, Richard Lally, Sean Hardiman, Aironas Kantauskas, Tomás Carr, Kevin Barrett, Adam Wynne, Tomás Flannery, Kyle Madden. Substitutes: Oisín Devine, David Walsh, Daniel Keating, Martin Mellody, Jack Kennedy, Evan Flaherty, Thady Moran. Management team: Jason Finn, Gary Broderick, Kerrill Lally