O’Connors Park, Waterford hosted a glorious game of football today, with drama, tension and a hat full of goals.

While the final result didn’t go Mooncoins way there were loads to be proud of as the girls fought back from 1-3 down, to make it 3-3 with 5 minutes to go only for a very dubious looking goal to break the deadlock but not the hearts of this very strong Mooncoin team.

The first 20 minutes of this match was very even with chances had and missed at both ends. Then one through ball had a Villa girl in the clear and she knocked the ball into the net.

Mooncoin had a chance and then just before half time from a tame enough throw-in Villa went 2 up.

Some changes were made at half time, well in fact there had to be as Mooncoin had a whooping 17 players in the squad today. This is a great testiment to the girls commitment to the cause no matter what the recent results have been.

5 minutes into the 2nd and a great tackle and pass from Elle, a pass from Ciara and Emily Blackmore put the ball in the net. 2-1 game on. Then more or less straight from the kick off Villa pushed through the middle of the pitch and got a shot towards the goal and it was 3-1.

No worries the Mooncoin girls kept battling away and from a great pass from Georgia, Emily checkly chipped the keeper. 3-2 game fully on. The ball ebbed and flowed from one half to another, Villa hit the crossbar and then debutant Molly Long, made a pass Emily was through and in a flash the ball was in the net. Cue wild celebrations on the Mooncoin sideline, some swear that Catherine Blackmore touched a passing cloud when she jumped so high.

Now the pressure was on, 5 minutes to go and the Villa pushed forward, and got a few chances and put one away, 4-3.

From the kick-off Mooncoin fought back. They got a corner and everyone pushed forward and Molly got a shot off but the Villa keeper made a good save.

Back down towards the Mooncoin goal and with the last kick of the ball Villa made it 5-3.

At the final whistle there was a little sadness, but this was an epic game today. When we went down , we never stopped and clawing it back to 3 all was a reward that was fully deserved. Although we didn’t hang on to the draw till full time , full credit to the girls who battled and never saw defeat.

It’s been a joy to see these girls compete for the first time this year, the team are enjoying themselves and the coaches too and for sure these girls will keep coming back .

We travelled to Tramore for a cup 1/4 final at lunchtime today. The first quarter was pretty even with both teams defending well. The deadlock was broken when finbar latched onto his own headed ball 10 seconds after coming on before slotting home. We took control of the game and forced a number of saves from the Tramore keeper who was in fine form.We scored again just before the break when Robbie latched onto a poor free kick from the home side and he calmed placed the ball in the left corner. 2-0 at the break. Second half continued as first had finished with our lads putting together some great passages of play. Tramore had no answer to Anil who had beating of every marker he faced today. We went three up when a Robbie cross found the net . The fourth came after a good cross by Matthew was knocked down by Finbar to Billie who blasted to the top corner. The whole squad put in a huge effort with top performances from 1 to 17. Man of the match was Anil with whole squad putting in huge performance. Winners of Stradbally and Abbeyside await in the Semi Finals.

We entered two teams in the Clover Tournament today in the magnificent Ferrybank grounds with the pitches in perfect condition. Two slow starts did not help the cause with our younger side in a tough physical group with Tramore, Ballyduff and Kilmacow and found the going tough but battled hard in all three games. The older lads recovered with two wins after their opening defeat to enter the penalty shoot out lottery to see if they would advance to the quarter final. Shane Purcell was the hero in the shootout saving the crucial penalty to set up a quarter final with a very impressive New Ross Town.
This proved to be a cracker of a game with New Ross deservedly winning out 4-2 to advance.
Great experience for all the kids throughout the day.
Big thanks to Mick Mullowney and his crew for a very well run tournament.

This month our 300 Club Syndicate won €374 in the lottery draws bringing our total to €2856. Our monthly draw will take place tomorrow night, Sunday 26th in Comefords Bar. As always, thank you to everyone for your continued support.

Our u9s head to Ferrybank tomorrow for the annual Clover Tournament which kicks off at 10am. This is the tournament that is a must see for anyone who is looking for entertainment, with bags of skills,goals,tackles,tears and smiles guaranteed.
If you are idle tomorrow for a few hours from 10am, get yourself down to Ferrybanks magnificent grounds and cheer the boys on.

Tomorrow:
U12 cup away to Tramore,
Kick off 12.30
U14 away to Bohs,
Kick off 10.30
U14 Girls away to Villa,
kick off 4.30
Support for all our teams is as always most welcome.

Rules below, we would ask all our followers to share this post far and wide for this years competition. Hugely successful the last couple of years and we look forward to welcoming new teams again this year. With a number of teams already registering their interest we hope to make this year our biggest yet.Please share and thanks from all at Mooncoin Celtic AFC.

The U14 girls made the trip to Park Rangers this morning, lining out with only 10 players versus the 11 of Park Rangers players and it was always going to be an uphill battle . But the girls who have been growing as a team over the last couple of games didn’t let it phase them and only a very eagle eyed person would have spotted the deficit in playing personnel such was the girls movements and effort in this game . Mia started between the sticks with the always consistent Ciara O Keeffe along Katie , Grace and Ellie standing guard in front of her in the back four and each of them putting in a solid performance . Kayla, Luiseach and Eimear took in the midfield and did their best to stop the surging runs of a Park Rangers team who had only goals in sight . Emily and Kayleigh Smith started up front , with Kayleigh putting in a fantastic performance today, breaking free on a number of occasions , confidence growing every time she takes to the field . Playing without the full eleven , the coaches had to switch positions constantly to keep up with the pace of the game and all players got a taste of what it was like to play in different positions . In the second half Emily stood between the sticks, pulling off some great saves today , allowing Mia to come out and make her mark , and that she most certainly did . She contested every ball that came her way and chased every ball down. Our second half performance was much stronger than the first half and the girls really got stuck in , never once faltering . The great Falla Wall was the man in the middle today and as usual, full of encouragement and compliments for both teams.

A disappointing result and a flat performance from this squad as they finished their league campaign with Kilmacow snatching the three points and reversing the result from a few ago. With the cup starting next week let’s hope today was just a bad day at the office.