Real character as Colaiste Choilm stage great fightback for second win

COLAISTE Choilm, Tullamore continued their highly encouraging introduction to Leinster Colleges Senior “A” Football when they showed great character to defeat St Mel's of Longford in Pearse Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Leinster Colleges Senior ‘A’ Football Championship Group Stage - Round 3

Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore 3-3  
St Mel’s College, Longford 1-8 

As their 3-3 tally suggests, this was not a particularly pretty performance but it was a huge win against them and it was a tremendous work ethic that saw them win a pulsating game by a point.

This is Colaiste Choilm's first run at top flight football since the early 1990s and they have qualified for the knockout stages with two wins out of two. They defeated Moate Community School in their first game while a one point defeat here was enough to earn St Mel's the second qualifying spot on scoring difference – St Mel's and Moate drew the opening game.

Their win over Moate meant that Colaiste Choilm could not be denied a knockout place but they showed real hunger and desire to continue their good run. It was a quite sensational win by Colaiste Choilm who trailed by a shocking nine points, 1-6 to 0-0 at one stage in the first half. It was nightmare stuff but they turned it around with a stirring second half fightback and Killian Martin got the winner in injury time to complete a great recovery.

All the scores for wind assisted St Mel’s came from their quality centre-half-forward Matthew Carey but Colaiste Choilm came storming back with a brace of goals from the lively Robbie Gallagher (the Ballinagar man got 2-1 of their 3-3 tally) and hit the front for the first time when defender Daire McDaid flicked the ball to the net in the closing minutes of this scrappy game. 

St Mel’s launched an immediate counter-attack with Paddy Moran bursting through on a penetrating run before fisting the ball over the bar to leave the sides all square but there was still time for Colaiste Choilm to land the winning point. 

St Mel’s who were the better side in the first half, hitting the ground running with the wind on their back. The deadly accurate Matthew Carey fired over six points (three frees) and he was gifted a goal in the 21st minute when the Colaiste Choilm substitute keeper Pat Grennan (who replaced the injured Kieran Coonan) spilled a dipping shot from Andrew Flynn. 

The alert Carey pounced to finish the ball to the net from a few yards out and it could have got even better for St Mel’s soon after when Dylan Fay had a goal attempt saved by Grennan who made amends for his earlier mistake. 

Colaiste Choilm were thrown a lifeline when slack defending was punished with a goal from Robbie Gallagher in the 27th minute and a point followed from Sam Bourke deep into stoppage time to leave St Mel’s leading by 1-6 to 1-1 at half-time. Those scores were crucial to Colaiste Choilm's second half recovery.

A costly mistake gifted Gallagher a second goal for the Tullamore team in the early stages of the second half before Carey went close with a goal attempt for St Mel’s when he shot into the sidenetting in the 36th minute. 

The pressure was eased somewhat on the Longford college when Harry Mulvihill landed a point in the 47th minute but his side had a lucky escape when the dangerous Colaiste Choilm corner-forward Robbie Gallagher blasted the ball over the bar when well placed to score another goal in the 53rd minute. 

St Mel’s were eventually caught when a well-worked move yielded the crucial third goal for Daire McDaid as the group winners came out on top by the minimum of margins in the exciting finish.  

ST MEL’S COLLEGE: Barry Geraghty; Diarmuid Farrell, Conor Smith, Eamon Igoe; Ross Shields, Matthew Flynn, Jack Belton; Adam Donnelly, Dylan Fay; Ronan Courtney, Matthew Carey (1-6, three points from frees), Jonathan Burke; Harry Mulvihill (0-1), Paddy Moran (0-1), Andrew Flynn. Subs:- Gavin Farrelly for R Courtney (injured, 36 mins); David Moorhead for J Belton (42 mins); Michael Flynn for H Mulvihill (58 mins). 

COLAISTE CHOILM, TULLAMORE: Kieran Coonan; Ben Heffernan, Diarmuid Finneran, Ryan Conway; Daire McDaid (1-0), Cathal Ryan, Gavin Hand; Harry Plunkett, Killian Martin (0-1); Dan Bourke, Dan Ravenhill, Luke Bourke; Niall Furlong, Sam Bourke (0-1), Robbie Gallagher (2-1). Subs:- Jack Daly for G Hand (injured, 37 mins); Joel Troy for D Ravenhill (injured, 45 mins); Jack Kelly for R Conway (49 mins); Jack Connolly for N Furlong (60 mins).

Referee: Michael Gordon (Mullingar).