Derek’s side faced a strong Park Rangers team in their first league outing and found the going tough with three first team starters unavailable due to injury and sickness not helping matters but the lads and lady on duty performed well throughout with excellent defending by Ciara O’Keeffe and Eoin McGrath doing very well at the heart of defence.

Tomorrow:
U15 League
Mooncoin Celtic v Park Rangers
Kick off 6pm

Saturday
U11
Mooncoin Celtic v Park Rangers
Kick off 10.30
U13
Kilmacthomas v Mooncoin Celtic
Kick off 12.30
2B League
Tramore v Mooncoin Celtic
Kick off 7pm

Sunday
4th Division
Mooncoin Celtic v Ballyduff
Kick off 11am
Youths
Lismore v Mooncoin Celtic
Kick off 11am
Best of luck to all teams this weekend.

First game of the season saw us travel to near neighbours Piltown. We got off to worst possible start as we conceded after a few minutes. Within 15 minutes Piltown were down to 10 men after a foul on Finbarr Purcell. The lads & lassie dug in and we equalised after a fantastic run by Robbie Doherty who squared the ball to Jamie Croke to level. Not having a competitive game since March definitely led to us conceding almost straight away as a long ball caused us problems. Ht 2-1 down.
Second half saw us take the game by the scruff of the neck with Aidan Carroll and Robbie Doherty running the show from the middle of the park. Another fantastic run to the by line by Robbie Doherty led to a carbon copy of our first goal as Jamie Croke blasted home. Level with 10 mins left and up stepped Aidan Carroll who let fly from 25 yards out to score the winner.
A good run out that helped shake off the cobwebs. Dungarvan await in 2 weeks.
Man of the match : Robbie Doherty

A tough start for our second u12 side away for an early morning kick off in Faithlegg. Finn Foskin got the goal and the lads kept plugging away regardless of the scoreline.

A glorious morning for the kick off of the Schoolboys league 2020 and there was a feast of football on display in Ashgrove as the newest U12b squad got there campaign underway against a strong Park Rangers A team.

Both teams put the pressure on early and it was Park Rangers that made the first break through mid 1st half.

With a change of sides there was renewed energy as Mooncoin got a couple of shots off. However Park Rangers piled the pressure on with a second goal and then not long later there was an unfortunate own goal scored.

Mooncoin didn’t settle with this scoreline and really got stuck in to grab back a score but chance after chance just didn’t go in, just one goal would have been deserved but alias it was not to be.

Next up is a local derby with Piltown.

Big result today and the scoreline doesn’t do justice to a well organised performance from Park Rangers. We were very strong in attack all day and we started off the scoring early with a great opener from Lee Freyne. Lee’s second goal was a peach. Back playing in the number 10 role where he is most dangerous. Third goal came from a well taken corner by Lee which was converted with a very good header by Tom Conway. Park Rangers still having a chance at this stage put a lovely passing move together which was finished brilliantly to make it 3-1. Adam Conway took us to half time with a great finish to make it 4-1. Sean Lennon stepped up a few gears and scored a great goal from 20 yards to the top corner. Sean added a second in the second half. He was carving through the defence at this stage.. Sam Hartwell was taken down for a penalty and Lee Freyne made no mistakes. Adam Conway was driving on the right hand side and winning everything and scored another great goal. Next up was a great finish from 25 yards from Stephen Foran. Sam never gave up to get in on the act and he got the final goal superbly. This was all driven by a great team performance. Ciara O’Keeffe and Denis Kinsella at full back were really on form. Conor Dermody held the backline together. Matthew Morahan came in just after half time and made some lovely passes to start the set up of two of the goals. Daniel Roberts who was also introduced covered a major amount of ground today and drove us forward. Jonah O’Toole was very effective in goal. A really impressive man of the match performance from Dylan Conway was a joy to watch he cleaned up in midfield and commanded it for the whole game allowing the team to drive forward. Well done everyone great start.

Today’s fuxtures:
U12 B League
Mooncoin Celtic v Park Rangers. KO 10.30
U12 D League
Park Rangers v Mooncoin Celtic. KO 10.30
U14 B League
Piltown v Mooncoin Celtic KO 12.30
U16 C League
Mooncoin Celtic v Park Rangers. KO 2.30

Another tough day for the lads with the last 20 minutes being the major difference with goals 3 to 7 coming in the last quarter.

A great pre season test for our Under 16s today in a very sunny Ashgrove. After months without a game this bunch were very eager to get going. A tough encounter with Ferrybank who sit a division above us this season. There was nothing between the teams all afternoon and the game could have gone either way. Jonah O’Toole looked like he’s being working really hard and pulled off some great stops in goal. Sam Hartwell led the line upfront and his blistering pace will be hard to deal with. Stephen Foran player behind Sam and was passing the ball well today. More pace on the wings through Adam Conway and Sean Lennon is going to be exciting this season. Lee Freyne and Dylan Conway were very strong in midfield full backs Ciara O’Keeffe and Denis Kinsella were instrumental in keeping out Ferrybank today. Conor Dermody and Tom Conway also provided a brick wall not to pass… the only goal of the game came from a corner by Lee Freyne that was chested over the line by Tom Conway. Daniel Roberts and Matthew Morahan both came on to add to the game. With players to come back we look forward to the season ahead. Great test and well done all and thanks to Ferrybank for the game. Big thank you to Noel Ryan for traveling to ref the game.

A Friday evening trip on a damp evening against league leaders Dungarvan was the last thing our older lads needed but they dug deep and got a deserved draw against a slick Dungarvan side. An early set back with Shane Twomey picking up a knee injury didn’t unsettle the lads as a youthful Thomas Bubbles O’Brien came on and slotted straight in. Andrew Norris and Andrew McCarthy were matching Dungarvan’s danger men in midfield throughout the first half and we went in 0-0 at half time. An early penalty for Dungarvan in the second half would have been game over on another day but the lads kept grinding away, showing excellent resilience and attitude throughout the team and yours truly Neville ‘goal a game’ Synnott popped up with a late equalizer to grab a deserved point. Solid performance by the entire squad, with the two Andrew’s particularly strong in midfield and also a special mention for Thomas Bubbles O’Brien in what was his first run out since 2004.