Coláiste Choilm secure spot in Quarter Finals with exciting win over Moate C.S.

12-December-23
Coláiste Choilm secure spot in Quarter Finals with exciting win over Moate C.S.

Leinster Senior Schools Football A, Preliminary Quarter Final

Moate Community College 0-10

Colaiste Choilm 1-08

By Cian Mannion and Ronan Cleary.

Photographs courtesy of Finnan McDonagh.

A controversial 30-yard lob from Cillian Bourke proved crucial as a gallant Coláiste Choilm defeated Moate Community College by a point on a breezy day in Moate. The massive win leaves Colaiste Choilm in the open draw for the quarter finals.

The Moate pitch was very wet, but that didn’t stop the game from starting quickly. Moate put over the first point of the game on the third minute before ColáisteChoilm’s Cian Bracken put over his sides first score by tapping over a free. Moate C.S. replied immediately with another point, this time from play off the boot of Aaron Murphy on the 5th minute to put the score ColaisteChoilm 0-1, Moate 0-2.

On the 6th minute, Niall Furlong scored his first of the day with a super score over the bar to make it a draw game once again. This was followed by good build up out from the back by Moate CS as Murphy added another point to his tally.

Coláiste Choilm looked happy to absorb pressure as they were often seen with 13 or 14 men behind the ball. This allowed them to break quickly up the field and after brilliant build up play, the ball ended up in the hands of Ryan Kenny who drove over an excellent score on the 13th minute. This was closely followed by Kenny’s second as Moate’s kickout was turned over and ended up back over the bar. Crucial for Coláiste Choilm as their defensive system seemed to be motoring well.

Moate C.S continued to push up on Coláiste Choilm but missed with their attempts on scoring but on the 18th minute, Furlong put Coláiste Choilm ahead with a fantastic long range point out on the right. A defence posing excellent performances from David O’Rourke and Peter McKeagney continued to impress before Furlong added another dazzling score from out on the right on the 23rd minute.

Furlong continued his scoring streak on the 28th minute with another point from play to give Coláiste Choilm a 3-point lead but Moate C.S were quick to close in on Coláiste Choilm’s lead with two points in two minutes to reduce the deficit to one point between the two sides. An exhilarating first half with both sides showing their vast talents and determination to win. A half time score of 0-7 to 0-6 with the wind against ‘The Brothers’ in the second half.

Moate ran onto the field after half time confidently as their fans were heard singing and cheering. With the wind behind their backs, they started the second half well as Darragh Madden opened his account with a good score after a couple of minutes.

Moate CS began to get a real foot hold in the game as Murphy put the hosts in front 4 minutes after half time from a free. Coláiste Choilm’s Furlong picked up a yellow card shortly after for an off the ball incident as things were starting to look like an uphill battle for Coláiste Choilm.

Coláiste Choilm decided to make their first substitution of the game 10 minutes inside the second half with Stephen Doran making way for Shane Horkan. Moate didn’t hesitate to take a score of their own and with a nice attack they put themselves in front by two on the 42nd minute of play off the boot of Martin. The Coláiste Choilm management decided to make two further changes by introducing Eoin Rouse and Aaron Rattigan in place of Eoin Dunne and Davin Keegan.

Coláiste Choilm’s Cian Bracken found his name in Glancy’s book with 3 quarters of an hour gone after being deemed to have fouled a Moate player running through the middle. Crucially for Coláiste Choilm, Murphy’s free ended up on the wrong side of the posts.

One minute later came the climax of the game with a goal for Coláiste Choilm from Cillian Bourke! Bourke hit a long, lobbed shot from around 30-35 yards out and with a bit of luck, the ball ended in the back of the Moate net to give Coláiste Choilm a vital 2-point advantage on the 52nd minute.

Things really started to go in Colaiste Choilm’s favour from here on until the end as Moate’s Adam Fox received a black card for a reckless drag down. Moate’s midfielder Cormac Murphy then came up the field to kick a nice score of his own to leave a nervy last few minutes for all in the Moate C.S grounds.

Dara Bates was the next man in the book of Glancy before he was replaced by Cormac Whittle soon after. Glancy then informed the teams of five additional minutes, where Niall Furlong received his second yellow card before Aaron Murphy stepped up to take a long range free which was waved wide.

The referee blew his full-time whistle and Coláiste Choilm come out as victors. The coaches burst into delight as well as the players. After a hard battling and determined performance from all players, a much-deserved one point win was secured by Colaiste Choilm as they move on to the quarter finals.

The Teams:

Colaiste Choilm: S.Kavanagh, T. Kelly, J. Colgan, P. McKeagney, D.O’Rourke, P. Kenna, B. Guinan, C. Bourke (1-0), E. Dunne, D. Bates, N. Furlong (0-4), D.Keegan, S. Doran (C), R. Kenny (0-2), C. Bracken (0-2; 0-2 Frees).

Substitutes: S. Horkan for S. Doran, (40 mins) A. Rattigan for E. Dunne and E. Rouse for D. Keegan (42 mins), C. Whittle for D. Bates (58 mins).

Moate Community College: J. Mitchell, T. Gorman, B. McCabe, A. Keane, C. Murphy (0-1), C. Whitney, A. Curran, H. Niall (0-1; 0-1 Frees), C. Martin (0-1), D. Madden (0-1), C. Fox (0-2), P. McLoughlin, D. Delaney, A. Murphy (0-4; 0-3 Frees), T. O’Donovan.

Substitutes: A. Fox for A. Curran (9 mins), T. Heavin for P. McLoughlin (58 mins).

Man of the Match: Every player contributed to the fantastic display today and it was a very hard decision made for man of the match with so many candidates to choose from. Many of the MOTM nominees were part of Coláiste Choilm back men. John Colgan was rock solid and came out with the ball well. David O’Rourke was excellent at wing back, especially in the first half of the game. Peter McKeagney had a brilliant game at corner back and never gave his man an inch of space, but the man we are giving the award to is Niall Furlong at centre forward. On a day where scores were hard to come by, Furlong was able to find four points from play straight out of the top drawer. He was simply the match winner, and that's exactly what Colaiste Choilm needed.

Up Next: Colaiste Choilm are now in the last 8 and will find out their opponents on Friday, 15th December when the draw takes place. Moate’s year has come to an end.

Feb
17 2025
Midterm Break
Feb
24 2025
TY Work Experience 2
Feb
27 2025
Parent Teacher Meeting - 2nd Year
Mar
10 2025
Parent Teacher Meeting - 1st Year
Mar
17 2025
St. Patrick's Day
Contact
Coláiste Choilm
O'Moore St.
Tullamore
Co Offaly
R35 WF97


057 93 51756

Location
© 2025 Coláiste Choilm Tullamore