Union’s late strike ensures dramatic Coosan victory
Coosan NS 3-7 Holy Family PS 1-12
By Regan Kelly
Following a nail-biting finish, Coosan NS defeated Holy Family Primary School, Mullingar by a solitary point with the last kick of the ball in the Cumann na mBunscol Boys Division 1 football final at TEG Cusack Park on Wednesday of last week.
The Athlone side started the game well with brilliant performances by Eoghan Silke and Harry Killian, the only scorers for Coosan NS in the first half.
Holy Family PS scored first in the game, through Luke Mulligan in the second minute, although it would take the team another ten minutes for them to reply to Coosan’s goal and two points.
Swiftly after Mulligan’s second point, Coosan scored their second goal, making it 2-2 to 0-2 in the 15th minute.
In the 16th minute, Terence Gibson scored a brilliant point for the Mullingar outfit from a free kick.
After Eoghan Silke scored his second point of the half, Holy Family replied with two points, bringing the deficit down to four points going into the second half. The half-time score read 2-3 to 0-5 in Coosan's favour.
Holy Family started the second half with a surge of energy, with Gibson scoring a goal and two points in the first seven minutes. Silke responded with a great point in the 30th minute, before a brace of points from Josh Burke and Finn Healy-Harraghy made it 2-4 to 1-9.
Ian Bednarek of Coosan scored a great point from play before Gibson replied with a point a minute later. Gerard Molloy and Gibson scored a point each for Holy Family, making it 1-12 to 2-6.
When it looked all but certain that Holy Family would be crowned champions, Bednarek scored a point to make it 2-7 to 1-12.
In the final moments, however, Michael Union of Coosan NS was at the end of a move and managed to finish the ball to the Holy Family net, securing victory for his side by one point in dramatic fashion.
Player of the match: Eoghan Silke (Coosan NS). He performed brilliantly on the day, scoring 1-4 of the winners' total.
Scorers - Coosan NS: E. Silke 1-4; H. Killian and M. Union 1-0 each; I. Bednarek 0-3. Holy Family PS: T. Gibson 1-6; L. Mulligan 0-2; A. Smith, J. Burke, F. Healy-Harraghy, G, Molloy 0-1 each.
Coosan NS, Athlone panel: Albert Mazgakski, Paul Fallon, Neil Boyle, Paul Sleator, Olly Nicholson, Fionn Clarke, Anthony Atendido, Michael Union, Nakori Temple (captain), Donncha Hughes, Harry Killian, Dylan Cunningham, Ian Bednarek, Eoghan Silke, Dylan Dollery, Fionn Moran, Zihao Lu, James McLoughlin, Ryan Gill, Solomon Shakhnazaryan, Leo Galvin, Jake Payne, Donnacha Harrison, James Purtill, Jayden Liu.
Holy Family Primary School, Mullingar panel: Kaedan Govender, Dylan O'Reilly, Zac Johnson, Evan Palmer, Liam Reddan, Finn Healy-Harraghy, James Casey, Cian Sheeran, Luke Mulligan (captain), Rian Quinn, Josh Burke, Gerard Molloy, Tom Frayne, Terence Gibson, Aaron Smith, Harry Flynn, Roy Mangan, Louie Murtagh, Theo Meisonnave, Senan O'Neill, Finn McDermott, Luke Maloney, Danila Shkrabalyuk, Charlie Nevin Rooney, Luca Hanniffy, Alfie Whelan, Aaron O'Reilly.
*See more photos and Cumann na mBunscol reports in this week's print edition.