On Monday the 28th of February Collinstown made their way down to Carlow to face Gaelcholaiste Cheatharlach in the quarter finals of the Leinsters schools championship.
The lads had a fantastic start to the game, they moved the ball well and in no time found themselves 1-0 up after a moment of Lee Dunne brilliance. They stayed composed on the ball and shifted it as a unit, a few half chances were made but none were too threatening. Suddenly, Dylan Walker made a great run down the left wing and played it into Cian Burke who took it into his stride and slotted it past the keeper calmly to make it 2-0. Everyone was buzzing, but the game was nowhere near over.
Collinstown stepped off the gas after a few minutes of going 2-0 up and were soon punished after a cross was put in and one of their players fired it into the open net. The lads were eager not to lose this lead. Collinstown saw the first half out and held the 2-1 lead. They had a team talk at halftime and discussed what we could do more of and less of. The second half got underway and Collintown were caught early when one of the Carlow players found himself 1v1 with Devon Boland, he stayed composed and put it away to tie the game.
After the goal Carlow played a long ball and began to get on top. A free kick was whipped in and Carlow managed to go 3-2 up. Collinstown had to dig deep now to get back into this game, the two centre backs Alex O’Callaghan and Kane Casey cleared their lines every time and didn't give the opposition forwards a look in.
After Callum Cooney picked up the ball and put Cian Burke down the line he crossed it back inside for Lee Dunne to score and get them back into the game. A few minutes later Cian Burke took the ball down and beat 3 men to put himself through on goal and buried it to make it 4-3 to Collinstown. The sideline went crazy and everyone ran down celebrating. The comeback was complete and now they faced a challenge of keeping it. Everyone stayed compact, the back four were solid, the midfield were untouchable and the front three were electric. They never gave up on any ball and always helped their teammates out.
A substitution was made by Mr. Harpur and within 30 seconds of being on the pitch Sean Duff put Lee Dunne through on goal and he tucked it away with a lovely finish to complete his hat-trick and the comeback for CPCC. The lads held out the 5-3 scoreline until the end of the game, they celebrated together after the game but also discussed what they need to do in the next game. Best of luck in the semi-finals to the CPCC.
Alex O’Callaghan & Cian Burke - TY Press
