On Tuesday the 14th of November Carrigtwohill Community Colleges’ first ever soccer team left the school travelling to Midleton to take part in the FAI Futsal blitz. Team’s from all over Cork were in attendance and the lads played 5 games which were all 15 minutes long. It was 5 players a side with running substitutes so the lads all saw plenty of action. The lads started off with a tough encounter against Fermoy and despite some great work from Ksawery Kurczyk in goals, the lads were on the wrong end of a tough score line. The lads regrouped for the second game where they faced Carrigaline, this was a much-improved performance and the lads dominated much of the game but failed to score. Carrigaline only had 2 chances in the game but were clinical and converted both while our lads done everything but score. We hit the crossbar, the post and the Carrigaline goalkeeper pulled off some tremendous saves. TJ Collins and Alex Higgins were doing great work on the wings, linking up with the front men and working tirelessly to get back and defend also. Caolán Dennigan and Chidi Olugbue produced some great attacking link up play and were unlucky not to score.
Next up were Mayfield and our lads were really finding our stride at this stage. Ashley O’ Meara and Dinny McLean were solid at the back while Nicholas Jubril wasn’t going to be beaten easily between the sticks. This solid defence gave Caolán the opportunity to attack and he didn’t disappoint, producing one great finish and linking up with Chidi who also found the net. Ksawery also played some lovely passes to the lads who finished them off with style. Lorenzo Sweeney work hard on the wing to get the ball from defence up to the lads who produced the goods. A clean sheet, two goals and the lads were fully in their stride. A local derby next against a very strong Glanmire side produced a cracking game. Glanmire were unbeaten at this stage and Carrigtwohill showed great work rate and dominated much of the game. Again, Caolán got on the scoresheet, this time from a free kick and Ksawery also netted. This was probably the lad’s best performance of the day who were up against one of the strongest teams on show, unfortunately Glanmire’s superior skill level meant that when they got the chance to attack they did so with success. Adam O’ Neil showed some great skill and work rate down the right wing and was involved in a lot of what was good from a Carrigtwohill perspective. The game was hard fought, and the lads were unfortunate to come out on the wrong end of a 3-2 score line. In the final game the lads were tiring after putting in such effort all day. They faced Midleton and after conceding early, Caolán again produced the goods scoring 2 and was unlucky not to have a hat trick. Cian O’ Connor and James Moloney contributed to a solid defensive effort after the early onslaught from Midleton.
Overall the lads had a great day and represented Carrigtwohill Community College very well. Their conduct on and off the field was immaculate and no doubt we will be hearing from these lads again in future soccer games / tournaments.