Spoils are shared
at Coolboy
However, it was Coolboy who enjoyed the better of the first half and they were rewarded for their good play when Ross Patterson nodded home after a superb delivery from a corner by Lorcan Rossiter.
There could have been more goals in the first half but for some excellent goalkeeping on both sides and this would be a recurring theme throughout the game. The second half was particularly action packed with Avonmore frantic in their efforts to level the game.
To their credit, Coolboy refused to sit back on their lead and instead went head to head with Avonmore.
This was an admirable attempt to seize the victory for themselves rather than give Avonmore the front foot and hope they could fend off their opposition for the remaining half.
Avonmore started the second half the brighter and almost immediately worked a good cross in from the left which had Kadir Arslan stretching but the Avonmore striker couldn’t make sufficient contact before Owen Byrne in the Coolboy goal pounced on the ball.
From this point on Coolboy began to assert a degree of dominance over proceedings, and the introduction of Josh Bowes up front certainly caused problems for the Avonmore rearguard but Kieran Penn proved himself to be more than a match for the young Coolboy striker on several occasions.
When the Avonmore backline was beaten, Brian Lynch pulled off a string of superb saves to keep his side in the contest.
Not to be outdone, Owen Byrne was also in fine form and on one particular occasion showed why the phrase “all goalkeepers are crazy” is used so often.
A through ball in was chased down by Kadir Arslan who committed to a sliding challenge early but Byrne bravely got his body behind the ball, taking on the ball but also feeling the full force of Arslan’s challenge right on the ribs.
Both players were hurt but nothing so serious as to make a substitution necessary.
When the clock ticked past the 90- minute mark and into injury time it looked as though Coolboy had done enough to seal the victory but Avonmore had other ideas.
Kadir Arslan picked up on a loose ball after a misplaced pass deep in the Coolboy half, beating one man before being taken down just outside the right corner of the area by a despairing challenge from Josh Bowes.
The dead ball was in the perfect position for a left-sided player and Conor Kearney stepped up to the mark. Coolboy went with four in the wall, leaving Kearney with very little room to work with in order to get the ball up and back down again due to the close proximity of the set-piece to the Coolboy goal.
Kearney recognised this and went for the far post, bending a delightful shot around the wall which smacked off the post.
The relief on the Coolboy line did not last long as the rebound fell to Dan Sheahan who showed great composure to control the ball before flicking it to the back of the net with the outside of his right boot.
This was a sickening blow for a Coolboy side which, in truth, had enjoyed the both better and the majority of the chances in the second half.
The home side made one final push to earn the three points deep into injury time but it was too little too late and the sides shared the spoils.
Coolboy Rangers (4-4-1-1): Owen Byrne, Nathan Barnes, Alan Lillis, Anto Phelan, Conor Kennedy, Liam Butler, Curtis Keating, Cian Moules, Ross Patterson, Lorcan Rossiter, Bradley Walsh. Subs used: Paudie McGing, Cormac Henry, Josh Bowes.
Avonmore FC (4-4-2): Brian Lynch, Gavin Driver, Sam Arslan, Kieran Penn, Diarmuid Whelan, Dan Sheahan, Donal McGraynor, Sean Whelan, John Kavanagh, Kadir Arslan, Steven Wall. Subs used: Conor Kearney.