Colemanstown United 2

Loughrea 2

By Mike Rafferty in Kiltullagh

BATTLING Colemanstown United picked up their first point of the season in the Premier Division when they came from two down to grab a share of the spoils on the all-weather in Kiltullagh on Saturday.

Aided by the influential elements, two early goals by Shane Kelly had put Loughrea in the driving seat and, indeed, their opening half display deserved more, before they were stung when Kevin Barrett pulled one back right on the stroke of half-time.

A stunning Kevin Collevey free kick was to level matters before the hour mark, but Colemanstown did little to merit a win thereafter as Keith Bane’s side continued to have more of a cutting edge despite facing the wind.

While both of these sides were promoted from the Championship last season, it is Loughrea who have made the more solid start to their top flight campaign. At first, it was a struggle as they lost their opening four games, but these were against the top teams in the table. However, back to back wins over Mervue United and Renmore has lifted confidence and following this outcome, they are on a three-match unbeaten run as they have moved to a more middle of the table position.

In reality, Colemanstown just needed a result of any sort to give them a kick start and while their early season form is disappointing, they are still just two wins away from getting out of the bottom two in the table. The opening half was pretty much a back to the wall situation for them as Loughrea enjoyed the advantage of the elements.

They did all the pressing and made the perfect start with the opener on four minutes. A right wing free kick swept into the box broke off goalkeeper Alan Finn and Shane Kelly stooped low to find the net with a close range header.

Loughrea continued to enjoy an edge as Jamie Daniels kept them on the front foot from his central position and with Mikey Lynch, Shane Kelly and Thomas Hoban offering a threat from the attacking positions, all the pressure was on Colemanstown.

Pictured: Evan Hudner of Corrib Rangers is challenged by University of Galway’s Daniel Nordon and Sheagh O’Connor during Saturday’s Championship tie in Dangan. Inset: Eoin Fahy of University of Galway tussling for possession with Corrib Rangers’ Colm Carroll. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.