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.

Our U9 academy squad travelled into De la Salle this afternoon in bitter cold conditions but put on a brilliant display along with DLS in a series of 9 games. A good number of our u8s battled with the older lads for the first time and certainly showed how capable they were.

Goal of the day must go to young Ryan Sutton who got stuck in and got his just rewards with a goal in a 6-6 thriller, not bad for a younger academy player.

Credit to the parents for braving the cold and cheering on the kids. It does make that little bit of difference. Big thanks to Gavin Lonergan, Nicky McGrath and their young coaches in De la Salle for hosting us. Brilliant to see the younger coaches getting involved and taking charge from a young age.

We had a large crowd of kids at our academy sessions this evening with the girls group kick-starting their sessions under the watchful eyes of Dee Travers, Padraig Kirwan and Mary Delahunty. The u7 boys were kept on their toes by Mick McCarthy and Michael Reid which is no mean feat. The second session of u8 & u9 boys had over 30 lads but had Miguel, Colm O’Donoghue, John Hearne and Mike Molloy putting them through their paces. Over 60 kids between the 2 hours with plenty fun had. But without these guys giving up their time every Friday evening the academy would not take place. It is growing year on year and it is thanks to coaches volunteering for making this happen and keeping the show on the road. The club are extremely lucky and very grateful to all our coaches throughout the club. To each and everyone of ye, massive thanks.

All schoolboys and junior league games cancelled due to the poor pitch conditions.