Under 16 2010/11

Sunday 29-5-2011 LEAGUE
Away to Glounthaune
Kick off 10.30 Glounthane 5 v 2 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 0-0)
Scorers: Alan Sheehan, Ozan Balcik

The eleven available players that comprised the Carrigtwohill squad found themselves shuffled for this game away to Glounthaune. 
It didn’t seem too evident that the players were out of position for this game during the opening ten minutes. It took the defence a while to settle, but the midfield still managed to play the ball around. This good play put Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook through on goal before he squared the ball unselfishly to his striking partner Alan Sheehan whose first touch let him down as he launched the ball over the bar from less than five yards out, wasting the best chance of the game with the exception of actual goals.
Glounthaune attacked at every opportunity but tackles from the solid Danny O’Shea and fellow defender Jack Barden kept them at bay. A good ball from midfield put Alan Sheehan through to have a shot at range and although it was on target it never really troubled the goalkeeper. Both Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook and Ozan Balcik had their shots saved or watched them float wide during this half also, but Glounthaune couldn’t take their chances either and the half finished scoreless.

The second half began and Carrigtwohill immediately found themselves conceding an early goal in the 42nd minute. A change of goalkeepers occurred shortly after and Eoghan O’Mahony looked to imitate his previous outfield performance. But even he couldn’t prevent Glounthaune from getting another amazingly easy goal with 47 minutes gone. Despite being two goals down, it would be a lie to say that Danny O’Shea didn’t defend well and he made life hard for the Glounthaune strikers and Jack Barden was always there to move the ball around towards midfield. One instance of great counter attacking football for Carrigtwohill started off in midfield when the ball was tackled free before being slipped into Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook who led his marker on a mazy run before crossing the ball into Alan Sheehan who did well to turn it goal bound but the ‘keeper did even better to push the attempt wide. The game looked to stay as it is until once again Glounthaune found their way through Carrigtwohill’s defence in the 68th minute with the help of a disputed offside related decision. Carrigtwohill could have pulled one back when Aaron Cooney was played through by Alan Sheehan, but the striker seemed to have too much time to think as he shot off the ‘keeper’s legs and lost the one on one battle.  Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook, Ozan Balcik and Shane O’Sullivan all had shots both on and off target during the second half. Another break for Carrigtwohill led to their first goal coming in the 73rd minute from a high through ball to Ozan Balcik who surprisingly left it to Alan Sheehan to slot in his first goal for his club and gave Carrigtwohill a lifeline for the next few minutes at least.
Not to be outdone, Ozan Balcik took a midfield pass and ran with it by himself before finishing well to get Carrigtwohill’s second of the game just a minute after their first. The comeback was looking very possible.
As Carrigtwohill searched frantically for the equalizer, Glounthaune we gifted another goal from the referee in the 77th minute, leaving the idea of a comeback shattered. Carrigtwohill tried desperately to grab another goal with Shane O’Sullivan’s impressive effort just curling wide. Glounthaune had to get another to secure the victory and they put the pressure on and in the 80th minute they forced yet another goal, overrunning Carrigtwohill’s (lack of) defence. 
Time was up shortly after with Carrigtwohill unable to find another goal and losing another disappointing match. The only upside is that the result couldn’t affect their league position, as any hopes of a high place finish are long gone.

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O Mahony, LB:  Jack Barden, CB: Ozan Balcik, CB: Danny O’Shea, 
RB: Shane O’Sullivan, RM: Derick Flynn, CM: Brian O’Mahony, CM: Cian O’Mahony, RM: Aaron Cooney, ST: Alan Sheehan (Captain), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook

Wednesday  25-5-2011 LEAGUE
Away to Blarney
Kick off 7.00 Blarney United 3 v 1 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 0-0)
Scorers: Eoghan O’Mahony

With the league out of reach with the previous results and their season quickly falling apart Carrigtwohill wanted a good win here. And it was looking good for the first twenty minutes or so with Carrigtwohill getting the better of the early exchanges. Unfortunately a very bad injury to the head of Andy Ray managed to change the course of the game, as it forced the nearly blinded midfielder to become a visually impaired goalkeeper and released Eoghan O’Mahony to play his first game for Carrigtwohill outfield this season. The game remained scoreless until the 55th minute in the second half when Eoghan O’Mahony played a sweet one-two to nutmeg the ‘keeper from close range capping his impressive outfield performance with a deserved goal. Andy Ray proved that even a nearly swollen shut eye and a new position couldn’t prevent him having a stinker as he made save after save to keep Carrigtwohill in the lead. Once again though the Carrigtwohill side managed to throw it all away; players picked up injuries and slack marking by the others which left a delighted Blarney side to slip through three times between the 74th to the 79th minute to seal a win. 
GK: Eoghan O’Mahony, LB:  Gavin Sheehan, CB: Brian O‘Mahony, CB: Cian O’Mahony, RB: Alan Sheehan (Captain), LM: Aaron Cooney, CM: Shane O’Sullivan, CM Andy Ray, RM: Danny O’Shea,  ST: Derick Flynn, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook

Sunday 22-5-2011 LEAGUE
Away to Mallow
Kick off 10.30 Mallow United 2 v 2 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 1-1)
Scorers: Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook, Brian O’Mahony

Carrigtwohill were much quicker to score in this game with Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook being put through on goal direct from an Eoghan O’Mahony kick out. The game was tit for tat and Mallow replied to the score line on the 24th minute due to slack marking. The second half was much the same with Carrigtwohill defending well but struggling to break Mallow down. It took until the 76th minute for Mallow to take the lead after stripping the ball from a much too comfortable Ozan Balcik who otherwise had a good game. Brian O’Mahony equalise d quickly two minutes later with a fine solo effort with the game finishing soon afterward.
The starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’Mahony, LB:  Gavin Sheehan, CB: Brian O‘Mahony, CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan (Captain), LM: Aaron Cooney, CM: Shane O’Sullivan, CM Ozan Balcik, RM: Danny O’Shea, ST: Derick Flynn, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook

Saturday 14-5-2011 LEAGUE
Away to Springfield
Kick off 10.30 Springfield Ramblers 3 v 0 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 0-0)

As Carrigtwohill looked to win this game to half a lifeline in the Legaue, it seemed that the referee had other ideas. Carrigtwohill started slow, playing very defensively for the first half, and not allowing the opposition more than their early and frightening shot on target. In the second half Carrigtwohill began brilliantly with Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook nearly opening the scoring on two occasions. Barry Daly upset his team when he was then sent off with 10 minutes gone in the second half. But Carrigtwohill were looking to recover until the referee failed to call a clear offside less than ten metres in front of him and gifted Cobh their first. A flurry of unnecessary red cards followed and Gavin Hurley and Ollie Cooney were told to leave the game, which itself was quickly becoming a farce. Cobh worked through eight man Carrigtwohill to score only another two goals before the end of the game. It seemed to be an even, exciting game until Cobh’s offside goal which was the catalyst for the destruction of Carrigtwohill’s league hopes.
The starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’Mahony, LB:  Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden,

RB: Alan Sheehan (Substituted for Gavin Sheehan), LM: Gavin Hurley, CM: Aaron Cooney, CM Ozan Balcik, RM: Ollie Cooney, 
ST: Shane O’Sullivan (Substituted for Derick Flynn), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook .
Subs:    Derick Flynn ( for Shane O’Sullivan 74 minutes), Gavin Sheehan ( for Alan Sheehan 72 minutes)

Saturday 7-5-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 1.00 Carrigtwohill United 0 v 1 Carrigaline A (Half Time score: 0-0)

Carrigtwohill took on high flyers Carrigaline A in their last home game of the season. The game started off uneasy for Carrigtwohill but they covered each other well and avoided conceding in the first half. Carrigtwohill fastened only minor chances with the only realistic possibility of goals coming from Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook. The second half was mainly the same, with the wind damaging the game enough to prevent flowing football being played by both teams. Carrigtwohill looked more attacking in this half, but they were the ones to pick the ball from their net after the wind managed to procure a fluke goal against the Carrigtwohill goalkeeper. Carrigtwohill nearly equalised through their forwards but they failed to equalise and once again failed to take advantage in the league.
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’Mahony, LB:  Jack Barden, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Ozan Balcik,
RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Gavin Hurley (Substituted for Derick Flynn), CM: Aaron Cooney, CM Shane O’Sullivan, 
RM: Ollie Cooney,   ST: Andy Ray, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook 
Subs:    Derick Flynn ( for Gavin Hurley with 71 minutes)

Wednesday 4-5-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 6.30 Carrigtwohill United 5 v 1 Mallow United (Half Time score: 4-0)
Scorers: Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook (4), Ollie Cooney

After the crushing defeat to Temple burning in their minds, the players of Carrigtwohill United prepared to face off against Mallow United in what they hoped would be a victory to keep their hopes of a high league finish alive.
The game had a nervy opening for Carrigtwohill however, maybe hinting at confidence problems from their recent defeat. It didn’t take long for them to shake the cobwebs and find their rhythm. Solidifying their defence with better tackles and faster interceptions Carrigtwohill pressed onward.
An early free kick from Ozan Balcik nearly saw them open the scoring after he sent the ball onto the foot of Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook who had his attempt pressure wide of the mark. Carrigtwohill’s midfield showed their supremacy controlling possession and making every pass dangerous, revealing the cracks in Mallow’s defence.
But it still took 19 minutes for Carrigtwohill to open the scoring with Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook popping the ball into the back of the net after killer high through ball. This was the case for the entire game: anytime Carrigtwohill went through on goal there was a huge chance of the referee calling Carrigtwohill’s players offside. While a few of these were justified in all fairness, most did seem to be a form of mercy towards the away team with at least five would be goals denied in the first half alone.
Back to the players that created the goals that stood (and those that didn’t).Aaron Cooney was ecstatic to be returned to his position on the wing and he repaid the management the debt of confidence they embedded in him with a superb performance throughout; his skill and crosses seemed to be too much for Mallow at times. 
It was one of these crosses that fell to ‘Rooney’ before finding its way to Ollie Cooney who was perfectly positioned inside the box to get himself a deserved goal in the 34th minute.
Mallow attempted to quickly claim one back but the home side’s defence thwarted this effort and flung the ball out to Aaron Cooney once more for him to cross the ball in again to ‘Rooney’. In truth there was a large amount of luck involved; although the pass was good and ‘Rooney’ had kept himself onside it was up to a mistake from the away team’s back line to allow Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook to get another with 37 minutes gone, just three minutes after Ollie Cooney’s.
Three was the magic number for both Carrigtwohill and for ‘Rooney,’ with just another quick three minutes passing, another Aaron Cooney cross and ‘Rooney’ was in for his third goal, finishing coolly and getting his long sought after hat-trick.
Half time came shortly after and despite some fighting on the sideline Carrigtwohill were unaffected and returned to the field eager to continue their command over the game.
The next half was fought for a lot harder than the previous one. Mallow looked a lot more threatening but with respect Carrigtwohill had it all under control. Their cutting moves and long passes were tiring the away side and leaving them vulnerable but Carrigtwohill were unable to score, usually with the referee denying a chance or a full fledged goal for offsides. At one stage Ozan Balcik lead an attack from the back line and found himself one on one with the opposition ‘keeper who was rushing off his line, Balcik tried the chip and was very unlucky to see it skim over the bar.
Eventually on the 65th minute Carrigtwohill got another, well more specifically Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook got another, poking the ball past the goalkeeper and waiting for the referees blessing before celebrating his fourth goal. The on fire striker was unlucky not to have more allowed.
With fifteen minutes left Carrigtwohill found themselves shuffled. Defenders Ozan Balcik and Alan Sheehan were placed as strikers with Andrew Long and Barry Daly supporting them on the wings. Andy Ray took charge of the back line with Ollie Cooney, Derick Flynn and Gavin Hurley now in a defending role. Aaron Cooney and Shane O’Sullivan stayed in midfield and ensured that Carrigtwohill remained a force to be reckoned with despite the changes.
In fact Alan Sheehan had two lovely chances to score, firstly barely controlling a pass after slipping before he took the ball past two opponents before sliding his shot off the post and secondly controlling a beautiful back heeled flick from Ozan Balcik before once again shooting off the post from just inside the box. Barry Daly also shot wide after a surging run and Andrew Long showed how to defend from the front by virtually trapping the opposition defence with his ability to strip them of the ball before they could clear it to safety. In the midst of the constant pressure Ozan Balcik himself had a strong shot blocked away. 
There was one final twist in the tale as Derick Flynn conceded a penalty to Mallow for a strong shoulder inside his own box. Goalkeeper Jack Barden managed to get a hand to the penalty but it wasn’t enough to keep it out.
The match finished with Carrigtwohill winning five goals to one and showing great class. They were very unlucky not to have won by more goals. Hopefully other results will go their way and this score line will help them in the league. 
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Jack Barden, LB:  Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Ozan Balcik, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Aaron Cooney, CM: Ollie Cooney, CM: Gavin Hurley, CM Shane O’Sullivan, RM: Andy Ray, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook (Substituted for Derick Flynn) 

Wednesday 27-4-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 6.30 Carrigtwohill United 2 v 4 Temple United (Half Time score: 2-1)
Scorers: Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook (2)

Before the match, everything rested in the hands of the Carrigtwohill squad. If these few players continued current from and maintained a 100% record then they would be crowned as winners of the league without relying on anyone else’s results. The possibility of victory was more than enough to inspire the team before they kicked off against opponents Temple united in a clash that would effectively decide the fate of Carrigtwohill’s season and have a huge hand in the final standings of the league. Despite beating Temple earlier in the season Carrigtwohill needed a draw or better to stay ahead of Temple, (their competition for the title thanks to games at hand and goal difference) and to focus on keeping the heat on Carrigaline (the current leaders and untested by Carrigtwohill so far this season). 
Despite missing their valuable goalkeeper Carrigtwohill started the match off strongly. A couple of defensive mistakes by the home side early on weren’t taken advantage of thanks to good covering by the players and they quickly learned from their mistakes and fought back.
Shane O’ Sullivan looked for the killer pass more than once and his through ball’s to Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook and Andy Ray looked very threatening indeed, although the pace of ‘Rooney’ and Ray were dangerous for Temple nothing came of their first few chances. 
Ignoring the consistent stream of dangerous and almost violent tackles from one team in particular, the football wasn’t half bad with the ball was being knocked around nicely by both teams for the duration of the first half, and both teams looked like they could score at a moment’s notice. The few unnerving chances that Temple created were cut out by the Carrigtwohill back line. After just 10 minutes Shane O’Sullivan found the pass that he was looking for and Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook found his way past the keeper, slipping the ball into the net to put his team in the lead.
Temple looked to even things up from the restart but Carrigtwohill pressed their advantage and worked hard to regain and retain possession. Good passing plays result in more opportunities for Carrigtwohill but they failed to beat the Goalkeeper. Things changed when Aaron Cooney passed the ball to Shane O’ Sullivan in midfield and another destructive ball was catapulted forward into the path of ‘Rooney’ who sent his shot over the ‘keeper but under the bar to make it two goals to nothing with 15 minutes gone.
What happened next will be preferred to be forgotten by Carrigtwohill when they look back at this match. The game was there for the taking but instead of Carrigtwohill fighting on and crushing their opponents while they had the chance, they instead collapsed in the most dramatic and humiliating fashion.
Sitting back and inviting pressure was one of the reasons for the defeat according to some, but it had little to do with the first goal conceded in the 24th minute. Temple’s high long ball was falling from the sky into Carrigtwohill’s substitute-goalkeeper-for-the-day’s outstretched arms when it took an unfortunate bounce instead of settling nicely in his hands and it dropped into the path of two Temple strikers who greatly appreciated their God given salvation. 
Carrigtwohill did attempt to rally back but they could not find a way through Temple despite their best efforts. With the defence still hanging back the management began to order them up, but lack of proper communication between the defenders led to fighting between them. To some it was becoming clear that it was not going to be Carrigtwohill’s day. They made it to half time still looking dangerous however. Right there and then it could have gone either way.
Carrigtwohill fought with each other on the sideline and it took them too long to sort themselves out. With only a slight variation of tactics they took the field. 
Everything was going well after the break. Both teams had chances now and again but with no goal resulting. Again despite the best efforts of Carrigtwohill the home side simply could not breach their opponent’s defence. 
Then it happened; a Temple through ball managed to beat the Carrigtwohill offside trap and the away team’s striker shot past a helpless but innocent figure of substitute-goalkeeper-for-the-day Jack Barden in the 50th minute.
Instantly the heads dropped. Carrigtwohill’s Confidence expired. Victory was fleeting. The league was escaping them. It seemed too much for some players, and the few that still showed belief and hunger were powerless in the grand scheme of things, only witnesses to the calamitous, catastrophic coming apart of Carrigtwohill United.
The comeback was non-existent. Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook was hooked to the ground inside Temple’s penalty area but the referee mustn’t have seen it as he allowed play to continue. Shane O’ Sullivan and Aaron Cooney were unable to dominate midfield like they can, thanks in part to Temple’s newfound confidence and dominance, mostly because of the abundance of disgustingly horrible and dangerous tackles by Temple that were never effectively punished.  In fact these tackles forced off Shane O’ Sullivan during the second half, further damaging Carrigtwohill’s chances. To prove a point the first bad tackle that was punished with a booking was a high-foot-studs-up that nearly connected against the chest of Alan Sheehan, Carrigtwohill’s right back. 
A free kick was later awarded to Temple for a non-contact tackle outside their box, presumably given for intent. This proved to be another disaster for Carrigtwohill, as the ball flew over the wall but was eventually finished off in the 61st minute by one of a group of three players who looked miles offside.
Again Carrigtwohill tried to fight back, but the situation was bleak and in this depressing form they were no match for Temple who attacked at their ease. Any counter attack managed by Carrigtwohill failed miserably from here on out. Another break down in Carrigtwohill left Temple push forward and due to a lack of back tracking from the midfield Carrigtwohill were over run and allowed an unmarked Temple winger to score a rocket into the near top corner with 78 minutes gone.
The match ended soon after, although some would say it was over long before then and with it, Carrigtwohill’s title hopes. 
The Starting line up for the match was: 
GK: Jack Barden, LB:  Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Ozan Balcik, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Gavin Hurley, CM: Shane O’Sullivan (Substituted for Derick Flynn), CM: Aaron Cooney, RM Ollie Cooney (Substituted for Danny O’Shea), ST: Andy Ray
ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook. 

Saturday 16-4-2011 LEAGUE
St. Mary’s Park
Kick off 10.30 St. Mary’s 2 v 3 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 2-2)
Scorers: Jack Barden, Shane O’ Sullivan, Gavin Hurley

Carrigtwohill travelled up to St. Mary’s, seeking revenge and redemption for their previously disgraceful home defeat this time last month. 
Expectations were that the match itself was always going to be tough and well fought and for once the game lived up to the hype; it was an entertaining challenging game that looked like it could go either way.
Carrigtwohill started the game very well, a fast passing movement resulting in Jack Barden heading a cross into the back of the home team’s net to get Carrigtwohill into the lead early. 
One nil up and Carrigtwohill attempted to press their advantage but St. Mary’s were determined not to be defeated so easily, so quickly and they pushed back the Carrigtwohill assault before it began. St. Mary’s kept possession and camped out in the attacking third, putting Carrigtwohill under pressure, seeing the fruits of their labour after 12 minutes when a low, slow cross inside the box found its way to an unmarked striker, who shot past goalkeeper Eoghan O’Mahony. 
It was a very sloppy goal to concede by all accounts. Carrigtwohill attempted a quick restart but things fell apart when they were again placed under pressure, nearly collapsing thanks to their own bad passing. Things looked worse for Carrigtwohill when they conceded another in the 13th minute, failing to close down a runaway midfielder who cleanly struck the ball, sending it goal bound whilst avoiding Carrigtwohill’s Eoghan O’Mahony.
Strong words from the management, who was shouting at Carrigtwohill to avoid dropping their heads and admitting defeat after seeing their early lead simply taken away, almost in a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, helped them to rally. From here on out, Carrigtwohill wouldn’t give anything easy.
The remaining minutes of the half consisted of Carrigtwohill gaining much needed momentum, finding their stride by repelling attacks and launching their own, mirroring St. Mary’s all the way through.
The topsy-turvy game continued, with Carrigtwohill slowly gaining the advantage in terms of attacking threats, and this paid off on the 30th minute when Shane O’Sullivan deservingly found the equalizer his team needed. Thanks to the goal, the half finished with Carrigtwohill looking the better side by a reasonable margin.
The restart  came soon, and St. Mary’s tried a quick long ball over the top which was quickly cut out by the away team’s midfield, and Carrigtwohill looked as though they would carry their momentum with them as the upped the tempo of the game another notch. United’s midfield did an excellent job, with Aaron Cooney, Ozan Blacik, Gavin Hurley and Ollie Cooney in both defending and attacking, aiding Carrigtwohill all round. Aaron Cooney used his tricks to beat players and passed the ball around nicely, Ozan Balcik was outstanding; his passing ripped open the home team on more than one occasion, Gavin Hurley made outstanding runs which had St. Mary’s scrambling to win the ball off him and Ollie Cooney as always looked like a danger down the right wing; tackling, running, passing, he did it all. The midfield was in control for the game, they never broke apart enough to allow the opposition firmly into the game.
The four man team that comprised the defence; Barry Daly, Andrew Long, Jack Barden and Alan Sheehan did an inspired job of covering for each other, winning tackles and making crucial interceptions and clearances. 
Just like in the first half, Shane O’Sullivan and Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook were constant threats, thanks to the home side’s inability to deal with the ball over the top. 
Carrigtwohill were solidifying themselves as the dominant side in the game and on the 45th minute they retook the lead. A superb Ozan Balcik free kick was swung into the back post with perfection and was headed in by a delighted Gavin Hurley.
St. Mary’s had another chance minutes later however with their striker breaking through the Carrigtwohill back line but thanks to pressure from Andrew Long and Eoghan O’Mahony he blew his chance well over the bar.
Carrigtwohill continued in their ways and forced St. Mary’s back for the remaining minutes ensuring their victory.
We played much better than we did in our first fixture against St. Mary’s and we pulled off the reveres here today. We are now three points closer to the top with a very tough game behind us. We are after finding our form again and regaining our confidence, now we are just waiting for the next match.

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O Mahony LB:  Barry Daly CB: Andrew Long (Captain) CB: Jack Barden (Substituted for Gavin Sheehan) RB: Alan Sheehan RM: Ollie Cooney CM: Aaron Cooney CM: Ozan Balcik RM: Gavin Hurley ST: Shane O Sullivan ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook 

Wednesday 13-4-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 6.30 Carrigtwohill United 6 v 1 Blarney United (Half Time score: 3-0)
Scorers: Shane O’ Sullivan (3), Andy Ray (2), Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook

Carrigtwohill United hosted Blarney United in their first clash against each other in the season and both were looking to achieve supremacy on the pitch. With both teams looking to do well in the league, it was shaping up to be a tough, well fought match.
This was not the case however if the score line is to be believed, but observing the match it was clear that Carrigtwohill had to earn everything they got.
A quick start from kick off for Carrigtwohill as the centre midfield of Shane O’Sullivan and Aaron Cooney began to work the ball around to Ollie Cooney and Gavin Hurley. Good, well thought passing looked to split the Blarney defence early on, but the visitors kept their composure long enough to prevent Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook from capitalising on the accurate long balls. Carrigtwohill’s defence quickly cleared any danger during the one-sided opening, allowing the midfield to keep the pressure on Blarney. This pressure proved to be decisive with 12 minutes gone, as the ball fell to Shane O’Sullivan who took an extra touch to make space before curling a beauty into the top corner to put his team in the lead.
This goal awakened Blarney’s attacking spirit and they persevered to counter-attack at every opportunity, which would cause some annoyance if not outright problems for Carrigtwohill for the duration of the game. In one instance, Carrigtwohill ‘keeper Brian O’Mahony was forced to act as a sweeper, barely managing a dangerous clearance to keep out the opposition.
It was back and forth between the two, both teams trading dangerous counter-attacks. Another intelligent pass from Carrigtwohill’s midfield put Andy Ray through on goal, and he superbly finished over the ‘keeper from the edge of the box in the 34th minute.
Two goals up, and Carrigtwohill kept up the pressure, hoping for a nice cushion between them and their opponents. A blocked shot led to a corner for the home team to attack. It was taken quickly and a cross was put into the box for Shane O’Sullivan to head goal bound, but it was blocked off the line. The resulting scramble lasted longer than it should before Shane O’Sullivan entered the fray and smashed the ball into the roof of the net. 
Carrigtwohill then defended well to prevent any successful counter attack to see out the half with a three goal advantage.
As Blarney took the kick-off, Carrigtwohill looked unnerved for no apparent reason and almost suffered the consequences of complacency to the first five nerve racking minutes, until they regained composure and fought back into the game.
Twenty minutes passed but Carrigtwohill were looking worse for wear as Blarney were playing well enough to look like they could score at any minute. Every possible mistake in Carrigtwohill’s back line was swept clear by the other defenders, with Barry Daly, Andrew Long, Ozan Balcik and Alan Sheehan working to the upmost as a unit. Unfortunately the defence had little do with the goal conceded in the 60th minute as ‘keeper Brian O’Mahony left his instinct as a outfield player take over him as he chose to block as shot with his foot rather than catch it, and the rebound was slotted in almost instantly. Brian O’ Mahony worked himself hard not to let it happen again and despite the odd free kick or scrambled clearance he and his defenders never looked bothered.
Carrigtwohill took the kick-off and never lost possession working to ball at a fast and furious but nevertheless controlled pace up the pitch for Andy Ray to pick up, move and score leaving the visiting goalkeeper statuesque as Carrigtwohill celebrated their quick response.
This tit for tat reply from Carrigtwohill knocked the wind out of Blarney and the home side kept possession, with the brick-wall defender Ozan Balcik spreading the ball around, either to Shane O’ Sullivan in midfield to create something or to right back Alan Sheehan to create width in the play. This paid off for Carrigtwohill in the 75th minute when another great passing play allowed Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook to meet a cross to put the ball in the back of the net and the game beyond doubt. In spite of personnel changes Carrigtwohill stayed strong and dominant, defending and attacking for the remaining minutes. Their pressure earned them a throw in along the half way line, which was taken quickly to Shane O’Sullivan who weaved with embarrassing ease through the opposition,  before chipping the ball over the horizontal goalkeeper to seal the game as the final whistle blew less than ten seconds after the hat-trick hero’s celebrations ceased.
Another great win from Carrigtwohill who are looking to maintain their form and good league position in the games to come.
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Brian O’Mahony, LB:  Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Ozan Balcik, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Ollie Cooney, (Substituted for Danny O’Shea), CM: Aaron Cooney, CM: Shane O’Sullivan, RM: Gavin Hurley, ST: Andy Ray (Substituted for Cian O’Mahony), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook (Substituted for Derick Flynn). 
Subs:    Derick Flynn ( for Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook 75minutes) Cian O Mahony (for Andy Ray 63 minutes) Danny O’Shea ( for Ollie Cooney 68 minutes )

Saturday 2-4-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 10.30 Carrigtwohill United 2 v 0 Strand United (Half Time score: 0-0)
Scorers: Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook (2)

Carrigtwohill United faced Strand for the second time this season and were prepared for another tough game. Directly following another hotly contested match against Temple and a previous hard fought victory over Strand earlier in the season, Carrigtwohill are no strangers to earning their wins on the pitch. 
The game started off as expected, with Strand moving the ball around quickly; the visitors were clearly up for the game and looked a threat throughout. Their early attempts were cut out by the Carrigtwohill defence before they could manage a shot, and the defence handed possession over to their own midfield to counter-attack. Clever long passes into empty space were generated by the vision of the Carrigtwohill centre midfielders Ozan Balcik and Shane O’Sullivan, allowing the strikers Andy Ray and Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook to use their speed to cause problems for Strand.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic though as Strand themselves did in fact manage to maintain some possession inside the Carrigtwohill half, but their attacks were broken down by some good defending by the home team. As soon as Carrigtwohill regained the ball it was quickly fed either directly to the two strikers, or out to the left wing for Aaron Cooney to put his trickery into effect. Unfortunately the only result from this was some off target shots. An indirect free kick was also awarded to Carrigtwohill inside Strand’s box, unfortunately the only result was a yellow card for centre-half Jack Barden after multiple failed attempts to take it. 
Late in the second half Carrigtwohill forced the opposition keeper into making some impressively fast saves thanks to Shane O’Sullivan, Andy Ray and Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook. The impressive blocks and tackling of Strand’s defenders ensured that their back four took some credit for keeping the score nil all at half time. 
A quick swap of the wingers by the manager and Carrigtwohill looked to start off the match well. However they were given a scare as Strand immediately and forcibly took back the ball and put the Home side under pressure. Carrigtwohill managed to hold out and the attacks served only to shake them awake, using their time on the ball to launch some dangerous attacks, usually ending in a low cross along the face of Strand’s which was rarely found by a Carrigtwohill player before it was smashed clear.
Back and forth attacks were the way it was played out with Carrigtwohill winning most engagements without ever finding the back of the net. That is until Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook latched onto a low cross in the 57th minute to shoot into the net from close range and send Carrigtwohill into the lead.
Strand failed to fight back and thanks to some great passing by Shane O’Sullivan, Ozan Balcik, Ollie Cooney and with help from Aaron Cooney who ran rampant down the wing throughout the game, the ball found its way through the visiting defence onto the unmarked striker Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook who quickly sped away before sliding the ball past their helpless ‘keeper to get Carrigtwohill’s second goal.
Strand struggled to get back into the game until the incident in the 70th minute: When Ozan Balcik was violently fouled, the ball was kicked out for a throw in. As the game was being restarted, the referee handed Strand a goal kick instead. Upon questioning this Jack Barden was handed a second yellow card and after consulting his book, was eventually sent off by the referee.
Now down to ten men it was Carrigtwohill who were under pressure as their opponents poured men forward. It took the home side longer than it should have to clear and they didn’t do themselves any favours. When they did scramble the ball free it was mainly to their wingers: Aaron Cooney who used his plethora of tricks and skill moves to outwit his marker who at one stage managing to back-heel the ball through the unfortunate player’s legs, and substitute Gavin Hurley who relieved his teammates when he picked up the ball inside his own half and launched a Maradona-esque run leaving a trail of beaten footballers in his wake before setting up Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook for a shot just wide of the mark.
That was all there was time for and Carrigtwohill left the game the rightful victors with Strand holding their heads high with yet another tough battle against a team higher than them in the league. Carrigtwohill made things hard for themselves but they played well enough to win. They aren’t on top form at the moment but they are quickly regaining their momentum and are looking to advance on their already high position in the table.
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB:  Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Aaron Cooney, CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Shane O’Sullivan, RM: Ollie Cooney (Substituted for Gavin Hurley), ST: Andy Ray (Substituted for Derick Flynn), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook. 
Subs:    Derick Flynn (Substituted in for Andy Ray 68 minutes), Gavin Hurley (Substituted for Ollie Cooney 59 minutes).

Sunday 20-3-2011 LEAGUE
Away to Temple 
Kick off 10.30 Temple United 1 v 2 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 1-1)
Scorers: Andy Ray, Danny O’ Shea

Just four days after Carrigtwohill suffered the single worst game in their season and fell to St. Mary’s 3-2 in a performance that was disgraceful to the crest on their jerseys, Carrigtwohill travelled up to Temple, a team which has consistently spelled trouble for Carrigtwohill any way, looking for an unlikely but necessary win to get their title hopes back on track. Carrigtwohill geared themselves up, determined not to lose. A fiery team talk from the manager, assistant manager and the players themselves pre-empted the game, and by the time the game kicked off, Carrigtwohill were more than ready to avenge that brutal loss suffered on St. Patrick’s Day, and ready to avenge the multitude of loses at the hands of Temple by finally beating them, the fact that it occurred away from home made it all the sweeter.
The game started well for Carrigtwohill and the few days of rest since the last game seemed to do their abundance of injured and sick players a world of good and they managed to maintain the style that they have used to persevere in previous games, tackling hard and passing well. Good passing from the midfield allowed Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook and his fellow striker Andy Ray a couple of half-chances at the very start of the match, but nothing came of it yet. 
It was give and take between the two sides with Carrigtwohill defending well as a collective unit and thanks to some missed headers by the opposition; Carrigtwohill opened the scoring in the 7thminute. When another missed header allowed ‘Rooney’ to powerfully head the ball toward goal but his attempt was parried by the goalkeeper back out to Andy Ray, who finished with a single touch, ensuring a scoring debut for the new signing.
Rooney’ was again allowed to fashion some attempts on goal, often playing skilful give and go’s with Andy Ray to do so. Carrigtwohill looked to be just edging ahead in a closely fought contest. The two sides battled it out with heavy tackles filled with badly hidden ferocity. Things were looking well for Carrigtwohill until the 27th minute when the first of many major bad decisions by the referee led to goal for the home side. The scorer was clearly twenty feet offside at the very least but the referee let him play on, and Carrigtwohill keeper Eoghan O’ Mahoney was left helpless by the horrendous call and Carrigtwohill still finished out the half strong, despite being back on equal footing.
The second half was pretty much the side all round, except that everything was amplified; the bad refereeing became more constant, the long balls more common and every proper attack by each team seemed like it would lead to a goal. Tackling and passing by Carrigtwohill’s defence and midfield ensured that the game remained close. ‘Rooney’ always looked a threat whenever he had the ball, with thanks to Andy Ray and Shane O’ Sullivan for the consistent delivery of through balls. Aaron Cooney as always looked like he could score a spectacular goal whenever he shot from range, but unfortunately he never found the target with such shots. 
Danny O’ Shea and Gavin Sheehan came on for Barry Daly and Gavin Hurley respectively, the latter two still feeling the effects of sickness. The change proved to be effective; Gavin Sheehan matched Barry Daly tackle for tackle and clearance for clearance to assist Andrew Long, Jack Barden and Ozan Balcik in keeping the home team from scoring, while Danny O’ Shea had a huge impact on the game with a single shot in the 58th minute, coolly sliding the ball past the opposition goal keeper from range to put Carrigtwohill in the lead.
Temple attacked and as always, they looked a threat but Carrigtwohill defended well, with Ozan Balcik often using his own skill to beat players before releasing Shane O’ Sullivan or Ollie Cooney who both always found another player with a pass, usually putting ‘Rooney’ or Andy or Danny through on goal with expert passes.
Two major events threatened to change the course of the game, both affected by the referee, both were bad calls to begin with. Firstly when Carrigtwohill managed to keep out a Temple corner, the ball fell to Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook inside his own half. ‘Rooney’ proceeded to beat his man, end up one on one with the goal keeper and just as he was about to pull the trigger, the referee blew his whistle for an impossible offside.  While this annoyed Carrigtwohill to no end, what happened next parked an even bigger reaction from the opposition, who had a goal disallowed for offside too, despite the actual offense occurring against the Carrigtwohill goalkeeper. Temple seemed to take it as a personal offense and ended the game yelling at and complaining to the referee, leaving Carrigtwohill to see the remaining minutes out at their leisure.
This victory went some way towards making up for the previous years of defeats to Temple and of course the match that we had quite literally thrown away last Thursday. Carrigtwohill managed to show that they can scrap and battle for their wins rather than simply triumph through skill and ability. The game was very close throughout and the score line reflected that, but Carrigtwohill deserved the victory, if not for their heart but for their tenacity which they exerted for the duration of the game.

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB:  Barry Daly (Substituted for Danny O’ Shea), CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Shane O’ Sullivan, LM: Gavin Hurley (Substituted for Gavin Sheehan), CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Ollie Cooney, ST: Andy Ray, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook . 
Subs:   Gavin Sheehan ( for Gavin Hurley 48 minutes ), Danny O’ Shea ( for Barry Daly 52 minutes), Derick Flynn, Alan Sheehan.

Saturday 5-3-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 10.30 Carrigtwohill United 6 v 0 Carrigaline Hibernians (Half Time score: 3-0)
Scorers: Brian O’ Mahony (3), Gavin Hurley, Cian O’ Mahoney, Aaron Cooney

Carrigtwohill United squared off against Carrigaline Hibs today with one thing on their collection of minds: revenge. The very first game in the season Carrigtwohill fell to Carrigaline 8-5 thanks to horrid defending. More than five games later and Carrigtwohill have improved immensely. No longer are the team to concede eight goals in a game, rather the team more likely to score those eight goals. With their mentality set and their skills improved Carrigtwohill hosted Carrigaline in what proved to be a very one sided clash. 
Carrigtwohill immediately took possession and began to move the ball around with spectacular simplicity. Casual passing and flowing movement by Carrigtwohill ripped their opponents apart for the duration of the game. Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook and Brian O’ Mahony both had shots saved by the opposing goalkeeper. Carrigtwohill opened the scoring in the 25th minute with the ball breaking to Brian O’ Mahoney who brought it across the box before shooting past the goalkeeper.
Carrigaline attempted to attack whenever they regained the ball, but Carrigtwohill’s defence was outstanding throughout the match, with superb interceptions, clearances and tackles before releasing the ball into midfield to ensure the continuation of their smooth passing game. 
After being set up from a long pass from right back Alan Sheehan and a glancing header from his striking partner Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook, Brian O’ Mahony scored his second goal with 31 minutes gone. Thanks to the abundance of pressure placed on the opposition by Carrigtwohill, Brian O’ Mahony completed his hat trick at the 34th minute a result of Carrigtwohill’s carpet football. Carrigtwohill didn’t add to their impressive lead in this half, due to a collective failure to convert their plethora of chances, not to mention their inability to attack the ball from their own corner kicks.
Carrigtwohill began to get complacent however and put themselves under pressure for the final few minutes of the half, leaving their opponents to retain position. Thanks to great tackling from the back line and speedy closing down from the midfield, Carrigtwohill didn’t allow a single shot during their weakest period. The half closed with Carrigtwohill deservingly up three nil.
Both teams returned to the pitch but as the game restarted it was evident that nothing had changed. Carrigaline attacked at every fleeting opportunity but every time they did, Carrigtwohill’s defence was there to subdue and defuse the threat. Carrigtwohill’s swift passing and moving was being increasingly cut out but they still retained more than enough possession to fashion good chances. Examples including Cian O’ Mahoney having one or two more and Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook showed willingness to score by shooting from everywhere he could, including some attempts at spectacular volleys, overhead and scissor kicks. More often than not the Carrigaline goalkeeper had to make a save which he did. 
Carrigtwohill added to their tally in the 51st minute when Gavin Hurley showcased unprecedented skill when he coolly flicked the ball over a defender’s head and with his marker stranded he then unleashed a powerful half-volley, which even though the keeper managed to get his hands to it, still rifled its way past the goal line and into the netting. Carrigtwohill were now firmly in the driving seat as the kept up the pressure. The midfield pushed the ball around and set up the attackers, who then proceeded to shoot. The defence remained strong, mopping up whatever was thrown at them.
Carrigtwohill’s total dominance was confirmed, not by another goal but rather by the reaction of the opposition. Carrigtwohill defended almost without flaw and thus forced Carrigaline to rely on the desperate tactic of ‘the long ball.’ This played right into the home side’s hands as they intercepted the long passes, brought the ball down and played football the way it suits them. This led to the fifth goal of the game when Aaron Cooney plucked the ball from the air and skilfully rounded multiple players before shooting. His shot however deflected back off a defender’s shin and fell to Cian O’ Mahony who then shot himself, sliding the ball past the keeper in the 66th minute.
Carrigaline attempted to get back into the game once more but it proved impossible as the combination of Gavin Sheehan, Andrew Long, Ozan Balcik and Alan Sheehan secured their back line and prevented Carrigaline from ever troubling Carrigtwohill’s bored goalkeeper Eoghan O’ Mahony. Wingers Gavin Hurley and Ollie Cooney caused all sorts of problems, with Gavin Hurley trying his best to add to the score sheet and Ollie Cooney using his variety of skills to assist the rest of the midfield in outclassing their opponents. 
Carrigtwohill completed the game’s dominant score line when a high ball fell to unmarked Aaron Cooney in the 71st minute and he controlled the ball before striking past the keeper and ensuring Carrigtwohill’s victory. 
However towards the very end of the game in the final minute Carrigaline had a brilliant scoring opportunity finally forcing Carrigtwohill’s goalkeeper Eoghan ‘O Mahony to vacate his comfortable position leaning against his post. Slack marking from the midfield allowing an opposing striker to slip past the defence and latch onto a throw before he shot past Eoghan O’ Mahony with the ball luckily striking the crossbar before Eoghan O’ Mahoney safely caught it. He then kicked it out to end the game. As a testament to how well Carrigtwohill played, the game finished less than five seconds after Carrigaline’s first shot on target.
At the end of the game Carrigtwohill demonstrated one major thing: that they have improved drastically from the team that they were at the start of the season. They now have the ability to score high and concede little while controlling and commanding the game. I will say this; if we constantly improved and consistently perform we have a huge opportunity to win this league.

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB:  Gavin Sheehan, CB: Andrew Long, CB: Ozan Balcik, RB: Alan Sheehan (Captain), LM: Gavin Hurley , CM: Cian O’ Mahony, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Ollie Cooney, ST: Brian O’ Mahony, Substituted for Derick Flynn), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook. 
Subs:    Derick Flynn (Substituted in for Brian O’ Mahony with 55 minutes gone), Shane O’ Sullivan

Saturday 5-2-2011 LEAGUE
Ballyadam Park
Kick off 10.30 Carrigtwohill United 4 v 2 Springfield Ramblers (Half Time score: 3-0)
Scorers: Brian O’ Mahony (2), Shane O’ Sullivan, Danny O’ Shea

After coming off the back of two losses in both cup competitions, Carrigtwohill had to brave the storm, literally, to defeat Springfield Ramblers in this game. The rainy and windy conditions would prevent both teams from playing to their best, but it did not stop Carrigtwohill from the occasional showcasing of their attractive football and passing game. 
Carrigtwohill started off slow thanks to the wind. Passes were dragged wide or were brought down early due to the horrible conditions. However Carrigtwohill quickly learned the correct passing method and reinstated the carpet football that won them previous games. They were in command throughout this half. The defence and the midfield were again in perfect synchronisation. Tackles and interceptions from the back four broke the ball into midfield, who then proceeded to set up attacks on the Springfield goal. 
Carrigtwohill failed to score from these attacks however and it took a magnificent piece of skill in the 29th minute from midfielder Ozan Balcik well inside the Springfield box to crack open the opposition’s defence. He rounded two players before laying the ball off to Ollie Cooney who crossed in for Brian O’ Mahony to tap in easily. It proved the breakthrough that Carrigtwohill needed. Five minutes later, again with thanks to Ozan Balcik’s skilful running game, Brian O’ Mahoney again scored with only one touch of the ball. Carrigtwohill had begun to hit their stride. In the 36th minute Left Back Shane O’ Sullivan scored from outside the box with a beautiful dipping, curling shot into the bottom corner.  Brian O’ Mahony was extremely unlucky not to add to his tally during the rest of the game.
Carrigtwohill were three unanswered goals ahead, but Springfield didn’t give up. They began to harass the home team’s defence but thanks to some backup from the midfield they were unable to break through. A loose ball in the Carrigtwohill box allowed right back Alan Sheehan to show off his rarely publicised running ability with the ball, breezing past three players and then beating another two to the ball before clearing it out up the line. Carrigtwohill failed to add to their three goals in before the referee blew it up for half time.
The players took the field for the second half and Carrigtwohill again got the better of Springfield immediately after the half begun. In fact Carrigtwohill had multiple opportunities inside the first five minutes to add to the already domineering score line. 
Springfield Ramblers used the wind to their advantage and kept up pressure on Carrigtwohill. It was becoming a two way street in terms of scoring opportunities. Nevertheless Carrigtwohill’s chances most certainly won in terms of class. Ozan Balcik had recoiled into a more defensive role, but luckily enough Carrigtwohill has a depth in their squad as Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook and Gavin Hurley had stepped forwards and proved themselves to be danger men. ‘Rooney’ was able consistently beat his marker for pace throughout the first half and he did not relax during the second while Gavin Hurley had repeatedly swerved through and  penetrated Springfield’s defence with superb solo runs. Both were to some extent ill-fated; neither of them scored in the game, although they had had a hand in practically every goal and almost every single opportunity.
As the opposition kept up the pressure and on the 54th minute, they scored their first from a corner, with the goal more or less coming from the wind. Carrigtwohill were put under immense pressure from then on by both Springfield and the harsh weather. Gavin Hurley was the victim of yet another dangerous tackle and had to be substituted with 60 minutes gone. Although Carrigtwohill defended well they conceded another in the 68th minute; the gale force wind brought down a Carrigtwohill clearance early before carrying a Rambler’s shot around unfortunate keeper Eoghan O’ Mahony, who had made no error in either goal conceded.
Carrigtwohill had to substitute two more players as the game came to a close. But in the 77th minute they secured their victory due to impeccable carpet football that led to yet another straightforward tap in, this time for substitute Danny O’ Shea. The home team stayed strong and emerged triumphant, beating both Springfield and the elements.
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB:  Shane O’ Sullivan, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan (Substituted for Gavin Sheehan), LM: Gavin Hurley  (Substituted for Danny O’ Shea), CM: Ozan Balcik
CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Ollie Cooney, ST: Brian O’ Mahoney, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook (Substituted for Derick Flynn)
Subs: Gavin Sheehan (Substituted in for Alan Sheehan with 78 minutes gone), Derick Flynn (Substituted in for Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook with 79 minutes gone), Danny O’ Shea (Substituted in for Gavin Hurley with 60 minutes gone)

Sunday 23-1-2011 LEAGUE CUP
(Away to Rockmount )
Kick off 10.30 Rockmount 2 v 0 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 1-0)

It seems that Carrigtwohill cannot escape their bad luck when it comes to drawing opponents. After being knocked out of the National Cup by Cobh Ramblers, Carrigtwohill still had another cup to play for and thus cue another hard draw. Carrigtwohill have only played teams in higher divisions than them in all cup competition; both league and national. This time 4th Division side Carrigtwohill took on Division One side Rockmount. Despite going into this game as underdogs yet again, you wouldn’t have thought it if you watched the game.

Admittedly Carrigtwohill did seem to have their work cut out for them when the conceded an early goal in the 4th minute from a poorly attacked corner; only one player jumped for the ball and he scored. However Carrigtwohill showed good determination and played well. Rockmount had the majority of attacking possession in this half but with credit to the Carrigtwohill defence and midfield for once again defending as a unit and rendering their goalmouth virtually unassailable. Midfielder Ozan Balcik was called upon not once but twice with goal stopping sliding tackles inside the penalty area keeping the score the same.


In terms of attack, Carrigtwohill looked to be implementing a policy of quality not quantity as Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook, Ozan Balcik and Aaron Cooney led the few effective Carrigtwohill attacks that there was. In fact Carrigtwohill caused enough pressure to have three would-be goals if not for their bad luck. And this was not including an blatant penalty claim which was denied by the referee and a miscommunicated back pass that almost led to an own goal to level the score line. Rockmount had one more clear chance from a corner before the end of the first half with defender Alan Sheehan required at the back post to head the ball off the line. The score line declared Rockmount the leaders going into half time, notwithstanding the fact that Carrigtwohill had the better chances of an otherwise equal game.

Some formation changes occurred during the half time team talk but the orders remained the same for Carrigtwohill; play carpet football in the middle of the park like they did in previous games and show the opposition that they are no pushovers. 
Things were looking up for Carrigtwohill in the early stages of the second half with Rockmount barley able to control the ball. Carrigtwohill pressed on but so did Rockmount after finding their footing. Regrettably Carrigtwohill deviated from elegant carpet football to a majority of wild, uncontrolled long passes. And so a back and forth game of non-profitable offensive drives began and lasted until sixty minutes when another formation change for Carrigtwohill; its basic message being ‘all or nothing’.

Carrigtwohill switched to three at the back and three up front for more attacking football. It proved successful as Carrigtwohill strode through the Rockmount defence repeatedly for the next ten minutes, unfortunately they weren’t able to finish. Rockmount on the other hand were. After Eoghan O’ Mahoney having a quiet morning with nothing of important to worry about he quickly became a crucial part of the Carrigtwohill shield during the unrelenting Rockmount assault. Corner after corner Eoghan O’ Mahoney produced a flurry of saves and punches to keep the score at only a slight disadvantage for his team. Unfortunately a numerically weak and fatigued defence crumbled for just enough time as to allow Rockmount to seal the win with a goal on the 73rd minute. Rockmount kept up the pressure and despite a few Carrigtwohill attacks, the game finished two-nil and Carrigtwohill crashed out of the League Cup at the first hurdle.

As I have previously stated, Carrigtwohill did not look like a team that was three divisions below Rockmount. We played very well and proved ourselves as more than underdogs or a buy into the next round to yet another team. Rockmount may have won but we made them work for it. If the players can bring their form and experience from our two cup runs into the League we will defiantly be going places this season.

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB:  Shane O’ Sullivan, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Danny O’ Shea, CDM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, CM: Brian O’ Mahoney, RM: Ollie Cooney
ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook. 
Subs:  Cian O’ Mahony, Derick Flynn

Sunday 9-1-2011 NATIONAL CUP FOURTH ROUND (VEC Grounds)
Kick off 10.30 Cobh Ramblers 4 v 0 Carrigtwohill United (Half Time score: 1-0)

4th Division side Carrigtwohill took on Premier side Cobh Ramblers in what quickly became a one sided contest. Cobh played great attacking football all through the game, remaining a constant threat throughout. Carrigtwohill’s defence was under merciless pressure and with only five minutes gone a goal line clearance was needed after a corner with Alan Sheehan keeping the score level.
Cobh continued to dominate but thanks to some last ditch tackles and clearances by Andrew Long and the rest of Carrigtwohill’s defence not forgetting a bounty of superb saves (Including an impressive double save that he had no right to make) from goalkeeper Eoghan O’ Mahony, Cobh began to look frustrated; they were dominating the game but had nothing to show for it.
Although Cobh had the better chances in both quantity and quality it wasn’t entirely one way. A very nice pass and move display was enacted by Carrigtwohill as they worked the ball out from defence beginning with the right back and working through Ollie Cooney and the rest of the midfield up to the forwards but unfortunately nothing came of it with the exception of showing that they too could play attractive attacking football. For the rest of the half however Carrigtwohill had to rely on interceptions in their attacking third and inaccurate through balls to mount any offense against a very strong Cobh side.
Unfortunately for Carrigtwohill a minced clearance by right back Alan Sheehan eventually led to one shot that Eoghan O’ Mahoney couldn’t be expected to keep out and Carrigtwohill were forced to end the first half a goal down.
After a tough talk from and a substitution by their manager Carrigtwohill went out into the second half with their goal being to man mark, stop Cobh from getting anything easy and of course to string some chances together.
Carrigtwohill started as well as could be expected under the circumstances. Close marking from both the defence and this time the midfield prevented Cobh from immediately adding to their lead, again with special mention to Eoghan O’ Mahoney who kept shot after shot out. 
Again Carrigtwohill’s attacking options were limited. The Midfield was too tired to defend and effectively attack. Missed passing opportunities negatively affected our hopes and offered Cobh yet another attacking run.
Cobh’s pressure eventually breached Carrigtwohill’s defence and despite Eoghan O’ Mahony’s heroic efforts he couldn’t keep out their second goal. The difference in fitness between the two teams was beginning to show. Carrigtwohill were now starting to struggle to make their interceptions and tackles.
A brutal mix up between the defensive line and midfielder Ozan Balcik led directly to Cobh’s third goal, their forward powerfully shot home from close range as Ozan froze and the defence watched in horror.
The fatigued Carrigtwohill players still managed valiantly to disarm Cobh’s passing ability and attacking threats and causing the game to become much harder for them than it should have been.
Cobh found their way through yet again in the 70th minute thanks to another mix up, this time solely the weary defence’s fault. 
A shot on target was blocked away by Alan Sheehan and this intermission provided the manager to use his substitutions bringing on his remaining three players to replace their exhausted teammates. 
Carrigtwohill never looked like striking back despite a skilful run by Gavin Hurley and sporadic free kicks and a corner. Carrigtwohill held on until the final whistle went, but it was clear that Cobh had done enough and Carrigtwohill’s cup run came to a halt.
The players played well, despite the massive amount of pressure that was being placed on them. They didn’t make it easy for Cobh and kept them at bay for as long as they could. As I said in the dressing room after the match each player could walk out with their head held high as reaching the fourth round off the national cup is a great achievement in itself and if we continue with performances like that for the rest of the season we will have a right go for the league title. Well done again lads.  Bernard Sheehan

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB: Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Shane O’ Sullivan, RB: Alan Sheehan (Substituted for Cian O’ Mahoney in the 75th min), LM: Gavin Hurley , CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Ollie Cooney (Substituted for Derick Flynn in the 75th min), ST: Gavin Sheehan (Substituted for Jack Barden at half time.), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook (Substituted for Brian O’ Mahony in the 71st min)
Subs:    Jack Barden, Cian O’ Mahony, Brian O’ Mahony, Derick Flynn

Saturday 27-11-2010 NATIONAL CUP THIRD ROUND
Ballyadam Kick off 10.30 Carrigtwohill 2- 1 Douglas Hall 
Scorers: Ollie Cooney, Andrew Long

Carrigtwohill played and won yet another closely fought contest as they kept strong and outlasted a very attacking Douglas Hall side.
The game started with Carrigtwohill on the back foot however as they managed to stave off a constant stream of attacks by the skin of their teeth. They would’ve conceded early had it not been for the crushing pressure forced on Douglas by the Carrigtwohill defence and for Eoghan O’ Mahoney’s series of instinctive and last gasp saves. It wasn’t all one sided however and as the game continued, Carrig’s midfield pushed forward and thanks to some smooth passing (Especially from Ozan Balcik and Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook) the ball broke to Ollie Cooney at the edge of the box. With his teammates shouting at him to shoot, he unleashed a wonder shot into the far top corner leaving their Keeper for dead. It was after this that Douglas Hall broke down, for the few remaining minutes left in the half Carrig dominated and had there been more minutes the result would have remained the same, but the score line very different.
The second half began with a scare for Carrig, with their opposition regaining their composure and attacked. The referee then badly misjudged a clear dive for a foul inside the box and a penalty was awarded to Hall. Eoghan O’ Mahoney managed to get a hand to the ball, but nevertheless it went in and equalised the game. Carrigtwohill never lost heart however and stayed strong. The fight to gain the lead began again and the match became much more closely contested then before with both sides trading attacking and defending spells. It was during one such attack that Carrigtwohill were awarded a corner and when the ball fell to centre half Andrew Long our hearts were in our mouths. He didn’t disappoint however, expertly controlling the ball before violently volleying it into the back of the net. Long was nearly mauled during the celebrations. 
And so it fell to Carrigtwohill to keep the lead they worked so hard to get. As Douglas Hall began wave after wave of relentless attacks, Carrig dug in deep. Thanks to the superb communication by the defence and the tireless effort by the midfielders Carrigtwohill United held on to the end without conceding.

The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB: Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Gavin Hurley, CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Ollie Cooney, ST: Shane O’ Sullivan, ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook 
Subs:    Brian O’ Mahoney, Cian O’ Mahoney

Saturday 13-11-2010 NATIONAL CUP SECOND ROUND (Away to Wilton)
Kick off 10.30 Wilton United 3 v 5 Carrigtwohill United
Scorers: Ollie Cooney, Danny O’ Shea, Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook (2), Shane O’ Sullivan

We started this game brightly and after an early spurned chance we took the lead on 6mins with a lovely dipping shot from the boot of Ollie Cooney from about 30 yards out which just went in under the crossbar. Then in the 8th minute Wilton struck back with a clear offside goal that the referee allowed to stand, but instead of dropping our heads we went on the offensive and got what we thought was our second goal from nearly the exact same spot and same type of shot as Ollie had from Aaron Cooney in the 14th minute but after initially given the goal the referee changed his mind and said it was over.  It was tit for tat after that as the first half ended all square.

We trudged out for second half as the rain poured down but it failed to dampen our spirits as we regained the lead with a scrambled goal from Danny O’ Shea in the 42nd minute. And that gave us the belief that we could win this match so up stepped Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook with his first goal of the match in the 50th minute and with the heavy conditions we made our first sub with Gavin Sheehan replacing Gavin Hurley in the 55th minute after his tireless running again for us. As we kept up our attacking game with that came Rooney’s second goal in the 60th minute. So us being 4-1 up we had to make our second sub with Shane o Sullivan coming on for the injured Ollie Cooney in the 65th minute. Wilton Started to press back as we took our foot off the gas and they somehow came up with two goals in a two minute spell. Their first one coming in the 73rd minute and straight from our kick off they scored again in the 75th. So to maintain what we had we made our last sub with the tired Danny O’ Shea making way for Derick Flynn who went on with a brief to use his strength and hold up the ball in the Wilton half as we on the sideline were worried that we could throw away this game. But up stepped Shane O’ Sullivan with his first goal of the season in the 78th minute to make the game safe. Despite the ref playing that 6 minutes of added time (don’t know where he got it from) Carrigtwohill go marching on to the third round of the national cup with another good performance from all our players in the squad. 
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB: Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Gavin Hurley, (Substituted for Gavin Sheehan in the 55th min), CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Ollie Cooney (Substituted for Shane O’ Sullivan in the 65th min), ST: Danny O’ Shea (Substituted for Derick Flynn in the 75th min.), ST: Marc ’Rooney’ Hornibrook. 
Subs: Gavin Sheehan, Shane O’ Sullivan and Derick Flynn.

Saturday 16-10-2010 NATIONAL CUP FIRST ROUND
Kick off 10.30 Leeside Knockraha 0 v 1 Carrigtwohill United (AET).
Scorers: Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook

We took part in a very entertaining and competitive local derby today against 3rd division side Leeside Knockraha. 
We started the game a bit slowly but after 10 mins we started to exert ourselves on the game and soon found our rhythm with our two wingers Ollie Cooney and Gavin Hurley linking up well with our attackers Mark ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook and Danny O’ Shea. Carrigtwohill retained the majority of possession and launched a few attacks and although they came close they failed to score. 
The closely contested first half finished goalless and we started the second half well and after having most of the ball for the first ten minutes the inevitable pressure from the home team started to materialise and it was Carrigtwohill’s turn to be on the defensive. Our back four however of were more than a match for what Leeside threw at them. 
The second half was a great display of strong individuals working together to form an even stronger team. Ollie Cooney kept a constant stream of dangerous attacking crosses heading towards our strikers and Gavin Hurley never seemed to stop running. Barry Daly and Alan Sheehan remained strong, wining the ball and distributing it to our two wingers. Centre backs Andrew Long and Jack Barden won everything and helped secure an impenetrable defensive line.  Ozan Balcik won every tackle in midfield while Aaron Cooney was always there to pull the ball out of the sky and between the two of them they maintained a good balance of running and passing the ball. 
However there were few clear cut chances with either their keeper making a save or the attack breaking down some other way. Our keeper Eoghan O’ Mahony was needed really only once in the game, keeping out a shot after 80 mins, with Alan Sheehan making sure it stayed out. Aaron Cooney squandered a free kick and the wind prevented Ozan’s last minute corner from making it into the box and so the game finished scoreless at full time. 
Extra time was due and it ran its course the same way as the match, evenly fought with Carrigtwohill just edging ahead but without a goal to show for it. The start of the first 10 mins of extra time was cagey as no one wanted to make the mistake that would cost them the game. Gavin Sheehan who replaced the fatigued Gavin Hurley after 72 mins floated a free kick to the back post in what was the only chance of note in the first period of extra time. 
So we entered the second half of extra time, upping the tempo to try and win the game, roared on by our subs Cian O’ Mahony, Derick Flynn and Brian O’ Mahony who never stopped shouting words of encouragement to the players on the field (and this despite them not getting much game time.) The clock ticked away down to the last minute and we even had our penalty takers wrote down when Aaron Cooney again won the ball in midfield and gave a sublime pass to Danny O’ Shea who unselfishly put the ball across to the back post to Mark ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook to guarantee a finish for the first and only goal of the match. The goal sent both Carrigtwohill’s players and supporters on the sidelines into a short lived frenzy. For the single remaining minute of injury time that was played we kept our composure and the ball, the latter their retained by Leeside’s corner flag until the ref blew the whistle. 
I would like to just finish by saying that we have a very united squad and if we can keep that bond together for the rest of the season who knows what can happen? Bernard Sheehan.

Sunday 3-10-2010 Ballyanley Kick off 10.30 
Strand United 2 v 4 Carrigtwohill United. (Half time score 1 v 2)
Scorers: Ozan Balcik, Strand Own Goal, Marc Hornibrook, Aaron Cooney

Carrigtwohill could not have started this match better. After a couple of early chances we finally took the lead in the 7th minute with a one touch wonder strike from the boot of Ozan Balcik from the edge of the centre circle. For the next 15 minutes Carrigtwohill held possession and attacked at every turn. Even though Carrigtwohill had all the ball, we still had to rely on a Strand defender to catch his keeper out and put the ball into his own net for our second goal with 24 minutes gone. But our two goal cushion was to only last 3 minutes as Eoghan O’ Mahoney made a save but the ball was still slipped through on the rebound and Strand were back in the game with 27 minutes gone. Strand went on the attack and only for an impressive diving save from our keeper Eoghan O Mahoney then it would have been all square at the break.

We started the second half brightly with great passing and movement throughout. This didn’t last long however and our passing game was forgotten and players decided to try their luck from all angles and areas, without success. So it was left to Marc ‘Rooney’ Hornibrook to restore our 2 goal lead in the 53th minute. Complacency took over for Carrig however and as they sat back, Strand marched forward and got a goal back thanks to confusion and slack defending. If not for some more inspirational saves from Eoghan O’ Mahoney, Strand easily would’ve levelled things. At the 90th minute Carrigtwohill won a free kick just outside the penalty box and so Aaron Cooney stepped up to take it.

After a plethora of misses throughout the game Cooney was still in search of a goal and thanks to a thunderbolt of a shot he got it, marking his second goal in as many games from free kicks. Had Carrigtwohill been less greedy on the ball and passed half as good as they can, they could’ve run rampant and got at least five goals from open play. Improvement drastically needed in the passing aspect of our game. Bernard Sheehan
The Starting line up for the match was: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB: Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Gavin Hurley, CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Oliver Cooney , ST: Danny O’ Shea (Substituted for Brian O’ Mahony with 90 minutes gone.) , ST: Marc hornibrook
Subs:    Brian O’ Mahony (Replaced Danny O’ Shea with 90 minutes gone), Cian O’ Mahony and Derick Flynn

Saturday 18-9-2010 Ballyadam Park Kick off 10.30 
Carrigtwohill United 6 v 0 Gounthane United. (Half time score 3 v 0)
Scorers: Gavin Sheehan, Marc Hornibrook (2), Ozan Balcik, Aaron Cooney (2)

A much improved performance from our first game in the league when we lost eight goals to five against Carrigaline Hibs. We played very well for long spells in this local derby and we couldn’t have got off to a better start with our first goal coming after just 2 minutes from our left winger Gavin Sheehan after a superb cross from our right wing to the back post from Oliver Cooney. Our second goal came from a simple but brilliant ball over the top from captain Andrew Long which allowed striker Marc Hornibrook to race clear of his man to fire home in the 22nd minute for the first of his 2 goals. He got his  2nd in the 31st min after a well worked move starting with our right full back Alan Sheehan who gave a one touch pass to Aaron Cooney who then turned his man and put the ball through to Marc who again finished well, chipping the onrushing keeper from just outside the box.

We started the 2nd half on the attack and only 3 good saves from their keeper early on kept us at bay until the 62nd minute when midfielder Barry Daly gave a through ball to forward Derick Flynn who pulled the ball back to Ozan Balcik to rifle it home. Then in the 72nd minute Aaron Cooney got the first of his 2 goals. The corner kick fell towards the back post and Cooney powerfully volleyed it into the top corner, leaving the keeper frozen. He too didn’t have to wait long for his 2nd with a well placed free kick from just outside the area in the 75min. Our keeper Eoghan O’ Mahony was a virtual spectator for the game without being needed to make a save worth noting. It was pleasing to score 6 goals but the best aspect of the match for me was keeping a clean sheet after the displeasing result in our aforementioned first game. Now we can go in to our next game away to Strand united on Sunday the 3rd of October (kick off 10.30) with some confidence and momentum. Bernard Sheehan

The Starting line up for the match were: GK: Eoghan O’ Mahony, LB: Barry Daly, CB: Andrew Long (Captain), CB: Jack Barden, RB: Alan Sheehan, LM: Gavin Sheehan, CM: Ozan Balcik, CM: Aaron Cooney, RM: Oliver Cooney, ST: Brian O’ Mahony ( Sub for Derick Flynn at half time.) ST: Marc hornibrook. 
Subs: Derick Flynn (Replaced Brian O’ Mahony at half time)