Our academy u8/u9s travelled to the paddock to take on Portlaw this morning in very cold conditions. With a number of games played, the goals were flying in. Great to see big numbers attending and also the coaches for braving the cold conditions. Big thanks to Portlaw for hosting us in their magnificent facilities.

A game of 2 halves when after a slow start in which the Villa capitalised and went in 2-0 at half time. A stern team talk by Derek had this side roaring out of the blocks and Eoin O’Callaghan popped up with his usual cracker but unfortunately this was not enough with a few chances passed up to at least draw the game. Great to see Ciara O’Keeffe return after injury and put in her usual solid performance at the back. Disappointing result but a very promising second half display.

Brilliant effort from the lads this morning , Mooncoin started strong and tested the Carrick keeper on numerous occasions from the first minute ,after Daire’s cross/shot struck the crossbar it was looking like one of those day’s .�Sure enough Carricks first attack after 20 minutes resulted in a penalty and 1-0 Carrick.�Mooncoin put the pressure back on Carrick & when Aaron McLoughin broke free from his marker on the stroke of half time he finished well from an oncoming keeper 1-1 into the break .�Five minutes into the 2nd half a Mooncoin free kick found Kieran Fagan at the back post who made no mistake so 2-1 Mooncoin.Ten minutes later Carrick on the attack scored from a corner to make it 2-2 ,the rest of the game was slugged out in the middle with neither team creating any clear cut chances , but as the final whistle sounded it felt like 2pts dropped. Rusty performance with stand out men being Liam Quinn and Aaron Mcloughlin.

We started game with 10 men as many were unavailable for one reason or another. The pitch was in poor condition and was a major factor in our below par performance. The fluid way of playing the lads have become used to on AstroTurf every week was not very evident today. Dungarvan were gifted a dream start when Mick Thompson swiped at a clearance and the ball spun into the air and dropped just below the cross bar and into the net. As it was early doors, there was no reason to panic and when Ginger Ryan arrived late and slotted in to give us a full compliment of players things started stepping up. While we didn’t create too many chances in the first half we had a good breeze behind us in the second and looked the most likely to score. The magic goal came with three minutes to go. A corner from froggy and a header from ger kirwan and possibly a touch from Scoby before the ball nestled in the net. All this after we were denied a stonewall penalty when Gerry Walsh rounded the keeper and was taken down with the goal open for the tap in. Brendan Bradley squandered a good opportunity and Neville Synnott couldn’t quite find his strike partner after great work to round his man (twice). Dungarvan to their credit had a couple of half chances but couldn’t convert. Rumours circulated after the game that Dungarvan might be looking to sign Mick Thompson for next year. Kilmacow away next Sunday in a big game to determine what the lads will compete in for the remainder of the season. Expect more competition for places as the fight for bragging rights in local derby are at stake. On the plus side, great to see Gerry Walsh return after injury and John Ryan make his first appearance of the season.

Tomorrow:

Academy U9s away to Portlaw, kick off 11am. The academy games are coming thick and fast as we prepare the next bunch of lads for league football.

U14 away to Carrick, kick off 10.30. It seems like months since this team played last….in fact it is months with the weather having a massive effect on all fixtures since November. Dick and Connie, to their credit have been keeping the boys on their toes over the last few weeks and will hope to avenge the loss to carrick earlier in the season.

U12 home to Villa C, kick off 3pm.

Again a long break has this side chomping at the bit to get back into it. There’ll be little fear of this squad being rusty as big numbers continue to train weekly.

4th division away to Dungarvan, kick off 2pm. With the league splitting after the first round of games, the older guys in the club will hope to secure 2 wins in the next 2 games to stay in the top half. This squad have remained in the top half all season mostly thanks to the large numbers training weekly with numbers increasing rather than decreasing as the season progresses.

Sunday:
– 2b away to De LA Salle, kick off 11am.

The boys return to action on Sunday after a long break but confidence is high as they look to extend their lead at the top of the table. A crucial couple of weeks coming up but again big numbers continue to train weekly which has to wreap rewards for this large squad.

Youths away to Villa B, kick off 2pm.

The first game of the plate will be played Sunday with a good start crucial. The boys have trained away and played a couple of friendlies to keep themselves ticking over so they will go into this sharp and full of confidence after recent displays.

Best of luck to all sides this weekend. Support is welcome as always.

Academy continues this evening at Carrigeen astro turf from 6-7pm for the younger group and the girls and from 7-8pm for the older boys. Help as always is needed so if you fancy helping out please drop down.

Best of luck from everyone in Mooncoin Celtic soccer club to Thomas Bubbles o Brien and his better half Tracey Cunningham who are getting married today. Let’s hope there’ll be no red cards today! Have a great day

We can’t leave the weekend pass without mentioning Emily Blackmore who attended trials for the Waterford U12 girls development squad yesterday and done very well. Emily who is still u11, is a brilliant role model for both boys and girls in the club with her great attitude and work rate. Keep up the good work Emily!

Both our U11 squads were in action this morning in damp soft conditions. The blue squad travelled to play Villa and put in 2 excellent performances in testing conditions. The progress made by this squad since the first meeting with Villa has been excellent. The Orange squad hosted Bohs in very soft conditions. With the majority of the squad made up of our older academy players, they found the going tough against a decent Bohs squad but still kept battling regardless with excellent performances put in by more senior players like Liam Mackey, Thomas O’Neill and Michael Murphy. All of this squad have at least one more year at u11 with the majority having 2 years. Good experience gained regardless.

Unfortunately, the u13 game away to Villa and the 2b game away to Waterford Crystal succumbed to the weather with overnight rain making the pitches unplayable.

Tomorrow, our youths play Ferrybank B at home so fingers crossed the rain stays away and the wind blows a gale. 2pm kick off. Support for this lot would be most welcome.

Hallelujah! Games at last. Tomorrow: U11 Orange squad at home to Bohs, kick off 10.30 U11 Blue squad away to Villa, kick off 12.15, U13 away to Villa kick off 2pm. 2b away to Waterford Crystal, kick off 2pm. Sunday: Youths home to Ferrybank, kick off 2pm. No preview of games required, just great to have games on. Credit to all squads for continuing to train regardless of weather and ground conditions. Support as always is most welcome for all teams.

Due to the rules and regulations attached to child welfare laws the club are currently looking for 2 coaches for our U11 Orange squad. They currently train on a Tuesday and Thursday from 6-7 and have a game every 2nd week. The plan going forward is to train once a week and a game every 2nd week. We have a coach with them at the minute but he can’t continue on his own due to these rules. Ideally, 3 coaches per squad is the number we require, so if any interested parties can spare an hour a week for training (an hour that suits ye) and a couple of hours for a match every 2nd week on a Saturday morning please give Kevin Dobbyn a call or text on 0876167700. The alternative is to pull this team out and leave 18 youngsters without soccer which is the last thing we want to do.