An early morning visit to Faithlegg to play league leaders park rangers in the bitter cold seen us lose to a late goal in a game which had draw Written all over it.

Despite being 5 players shy we gave a good as we got and really didn’t deserve to lose.

Some great performances all around the pitch Jake in goal Eoghan in defence Daniel in midfield and our goalie Jack gave a great display up front as we were missing 3 of our 4 front players for this game every player gave their all today in a real battle but Anil was our top performer against a very strong homeside.

A cold start to the morning in Suir Crescent v Kilmacthomas u12s.

We conceded after 5 mins from a corner that was scrambled in. Fionn got us level from close range.

Mooncoin fell behind again before Ethan got 2 goals before half time. The game was finely balanced, so the well worked goal with Fionn putting Shane through to slot home eased the nerves.

Ethan got his hat trick goal before Robbie scored late on too. The score line was hard on Kilmacthomas who pushed us hard today.

Today Our U16s travelled to table toppers Park Rangers for a 12noon Kick off .

Hats scarfs and hot drinks were the order of the day for our travelling supporters .

Straight from the Off, we imposed ourselves on Park Rangers and tried to get ourselves into the flow of the game …. But Park Rangers had other plans , and took the lead with just 5 minutes on the clock .

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However that didn’t rattle us too much and we really got into the game .

Ella Bailey played her usual role today in defence and showed on more than one occasion why she deserves the captains armband , she was in constant communication with her players on the pitch , and after a shaky start , herself Sophie Schaill and Kate Mcgrath came into their own

We got our equaliser 15 mins in when Sophie Scahill made a long range clearance that was ran on to by Emily Blackmore , who only had the back of the net on her mind … and made no mistake in slotting the ball home .

Birthday Girl Luiseach O Donohue worked tirelessly today on the wing , along with teammate Niamh Reddy to keep the ball moving forward.

On the twenty minute mark were awarded a penalty from a hand ball , and Sommer Grant confidently stood up and rattled the net , putting us a goal ahead . Park Rangers came back at us again and equalised five minutes later .

Coming up on the half hour mark ,a tackle from a throw ball saw Emily Blackmore get a Pass to the foot of Aoibhe Rees who made her run towards goal . And put us in the lead , when her effort shot past the Park Rangers keeper .

With the half coming to an end Sommer Grant stood over a free kick , and a defensive error from The opposition resulted in the ball finishing in the net .

Park Rangers 3-4 Mooncoin Celtic after the first half

The second half couldn’t have been any more different from the goal filled opening half .

Both teams settled in , and were making no mistakes and cutting out any imminent dangers , Emily Cooney put in a massive shift in the second half and played some excellent football .
But full credit has to go to Caoimhe Hartwell who put her best performance to date.

Ella Brennan caused all manor of havoc when she came on midway through the half . Having a shot of her own go wide of the post just two minutes after her introduction .

Mia made some fantastic saves towards the end of the Game as Park Rangers tried to find an equaliser .

The game finished up 3-4 to Mooncoin Celtic

A well earned and deserved win for these ladies , who week after week give it their all.

Abbeyside were todays visitors. For the first 20 minutes both teams fought for the upperhand.

Abbeyside took the lead but the goal seemed to wake us up and we equalised almost immediately. A good end to the half saw us go in 4.1 up at the break.

The lads put in a great second half performance from start to finish .
Goals from Robbie x3, Marti x 3, Jamie & Canice.

Great team performance, MOM Marti Cuch

Yesterday’s game saw us take on table toppers Park Rangers in the U17s league .

It was a game that was filled with excitement a plenty .

The game started with what has now become the norm , a furious and fast pace , with both teams trying to edge themselves on top .

Ella Bailey and Grace O Toole were work horses today as they dealt with an ever persistent Park Rangers attack . Both ladies left it all on the pitch , backed up by team mates Cayla Dunphy and the always reliable Ciara O Keeffe .

Sommer Grant seemed to be everywhere at once yesterday on the pitch , clearing and spraying balls as the need arose and also in the middle of the field Laura Flynn really impressed on her first game back after a long spell out due to injury . Evelyn Holden and Ciara Corcoran also put in a mighty shift for us yesterday .

Up front Becky Brogan and Casey Moore , did all they could to break down a resolute Park Rangers defence but it was proving to be a difficult task ….
The introduction of Georgia Grant and Emily Blackmore freshened up the squad on the half hour mark , by when the half time break arrived , Park Rangers had taken the lead 0-1 which the took into the second Half .

The second half saw some very good passages of play from the girls and we created a few chances , none if which we managed to capitalise on … Kayleigh Smith and Katie Tolan took to the pitch mid way through the second half and both players put in a big effort .

Despite this , Park Rangers added another goal to their tally .
Making it 2-0 which is how the game finished up . Mia Ponce De Leon was once again fearless between the sticks , and was vocal and encouraging to all her players throughout the game . The result didn’t go our way today , but all the girls put their heart and soul into yesterday’s game .

Also a Shoutout Alanah Jordan who joined us in the past few weeks , Alanah didn’t see any game time yesterday , but was a great support to the girls during the game .

Great match today away to Ballyduff, not an easy place to go.

Early goal from Ethan settled the nerves as it went in off both posts. Ballyduff equalised in the first half. Shane had one of his characteristic mazy runs and kept his head to walk the ball into the goal to go in 2-1 at half time. Ballyduff got a headed goal at the back post, before Ethan got his second, this time just off one post.

Ballyduff were stubborn and never gave up and were rewarded with their No7 getting a second goal with a well placed shot giving Will no chance in goals. In the end it could have gone either way, but the lads saw it out and 3-3 draw was a fair result. Well done to Conor B on his u12 league debut today.

Saturday afternoon the u14 Schoolboys took an unusual route by heading west towards Tipperary were they met Clonmel Celtic the Schoolboys FAI National Cup.

This was the first time in 5 years that any team in Mooncoin Celtic had played in a national cup competition and they started off very well with some slick passing out from the back and through the midfield.

There was an early shout for a penalty for Mooncoin but it was immediately waved away. Then the teams exchanged some shots, with Clonmel taking the lead from one of their chances.

The 2nd half started at a quick pace and there was a mighty midfield battle, but Clonmel got another break through goal in the early part of the 2nd half which made to tie a little more difficult for Mooncoin.

It was a battling performance from the lads today, and every player can be proud of their efforts against a well established Premier A side. The Mooncoin players didn’t look out of place with such company and will for sure continue to do well in the league campaign.

MoM in this one was Finbarr Purcell who had a titanic display at centre back.

There are six girls from MCFC representing Waterford tomorrow in the Gaynor Cup matches against Wexford.

At U13 we have Aoibhe Rees, Emily Cooney, and Sophie Schaill. Special mention of Sophie who has been super in her U14 and U16 matches for Mooncoin and has been called up to the Gaynor Cup squad.

Did you know that back in 2018 Sophie was hugely vocal about the need for a girls team in Mooncoin and was over the moon when she heard it was going ahead. Since then we don’t think Sophie has missed one training session and has worked hard on her game and we here at MCFC central are so proud and delighted for Sophie as she breaks into the Waterford development squad.

At U15 we have Mia Ponce De Leon, Sommer Grant and Emily Blackmore.

The very best of luck to all the girls, and management team.