Coosan hold off Holy Family fightback to retain their title

By Shane King

Coosan NS retained their division one boys’ football crown with a strong second-half performance against Holy Family NS Mullingar in an entertaining final at TEG Cusack Park last Thursday evening.

In a repeat of last year’s decider between the county’s two largest towns, the Athlone school showed their determination once again, pulling away during a dominant spell after half-time before holding off a late Holy Family rally to claim a deserved four-point victory.

It was a closely fought contest throughout the opening period, with both sides producing some excellent football. Coosan held a slender one-point advantage at the interval, but a crucial early second-half goal from Zihao Lu helped create daylight between the teams and laid the platform for victory.

The opening half was played at a frantic pace, with Tom Frayne and Ian Bednarek exchanging early points from play inside the first two minutes.

Dylan Cunningham edged Coosan ahead before Holy Family responded impressively, moving two points clear thanks to scores from Adam Reynolds and two excellent efforts from Frayne.

Coosan had an opportunity for a goal when Harry Killian burst forward at pace, but his effort drifted over the bar. Holy Family immediately responded through Rian Quinn, who split the posts from a difficult angle.

The Athlone side finished the half strongly. Cunningham converted a ’45 before Bednarek added two placed-ball scores to leave Coosan narrowly ahead at the break on a scoreline of 0-6 to 0-5.

Coosan restarted brightly, with James Purtill opening the second-half scoring from play, though Holy Family quickly replied through another fine effort from Quinn.

The decisive period of the contest followed as Coosan hit an impressive purple patch. Harry Killian created the opening for Zihao Lu to fire to the net, before points from Killian, Purtill and Bednarek stretched their advantage.

At the other end, Adrian Hoti produced a superb defensive display, repeatedly turning over possession and preventing the Mullingar side from building momentum.

Coosan extended their lead further when Olly Nicholson’s long-range effort dropped into the top corner of the net to leave the Athlone school firmly in control.

To their credit, Holy Family refused to surrender and fought their way back into contention with points from Rian Quinn and Tom Frayne. However, any hopes of a comeback were quickly halted when Harry Killian surged through and rattled the net to restore Coosan’s commanding lead.

Frayne continued to impress for the Mullingar side, landing a brilliant over-the-shoulder point before his free dropped into the goals to reduce the deficit late on. Killian and Liam Reddan exchanged scores, while Rian Quinn grabbed a last-gasp goal, but it arrived too late to deny Coosan as they secured successive division one titles.

Scorers - Coosan NS: I Bednarek 0-4 (2f), H Killian 1-3, D Cunningham 0-2 (1 ‘45), J Purtill 0-2, Z Lu and O Nicholsan 1-0 each. Holy Family NS: T Frayne 1-5 (0-1f), R Quinn 1-3 (1f), L Reddan 0-1 (1f), S Pettit 0-1.

Coosan NS: Fionn Moran, Paul Sleator, Neil Boyle, Solomon Shakhnazaryan, Olly Nicholsan, Fionn Clarke, Adrian Hoti, Dylan Cunningham, Harry Killian, Matthew Sherlock, Ian Bednarek, Seán Pettit, Dylan Dollery, Zihao Lu, James Purtill, Jaden Liu, Charlie Lennon, Alfie Byrne, Ismael Ahmed, Cillian Scullion, Cillian Cox, Fionn Kenny, Harry Lennon, Ruairí Tierny, Nicholas Flood, Oscar Liu, Atta Takawi, Albert Proctor, Alex Mannion, Tristan Grenham.

Holy Family NS: Harry Flynn, Ted Matthews, Dylan O’Reilly, Josh Boyhan, Michael Kiernan, Liam Reddan, Alex McLaughlin, Louie Murtagh, John Geelon, Olly Wright, Rian Quinn, Adam Reynolds, Noah Morgan, Gerard Molloy, Tom Frayne, Noah Govender, Eoin Bonner, Ethan Byrne, Alfie Gilmore, Jacob Buckley, Danila Shkrablyuk, Gearóid Doyle, John Healy, Daniel Fallon, Rowan Leavy, Charlie Rooney, Adam Birmingham.

Referee: John Bawle (Shandonagh).