The story of our League 2 Minor Champions Our campaign started with a meeting in the RST Centre in January where we had a chat with the lads and organised a training schedule for the coming months. We started training on the 7th of January at the running track. We also had a few sessions on the Hill of Tara early in the morning and it went down a treat but we had a good time out all the same. At this stage we trained on the pitch across the road and I might add though we had small numbers it was important to keep our Minors identity.
We were placed in Division 2 which I thought was about right, but if it was Division 1 I would have had no problem because we competed at U-17 level the previous year in Division 1 and acquitted ourselves well. The Division consisted of Wolfe Tones, Curragha- Vincents, Jenkinstown, Senchalstown, Killarg Gaels, St.Michaels and St.Patricks. We had victories over all teams apart from Wolf Tones this qualified us for the semi-final.
Curragh- Vincents would be our opponent for the semi final which was a thriller of a match and put us in good shape for the final. Having lost narrowly to Tones in an earlier round I was quietly confident we could avenge that defeat and become Division 2 champions. The final was fixed for the 18th May at 7 o clock in Simonstown. In a week that saw our U16’s win Division 1 on Tuesday 13th, on Saturday eight of our young lads were forced to travel with the County selection for a blitz competition for U15’s and U16’s. Hardly fair but thankfully it all worked out in the end. Follow that with the official opening of our new Clubhouse and challenge match between Meath and Cork, you could say it was a hectic weekend.
The story of the final, A wet and dreary day was followed thankfully by a fine evening. We started nervously missing frees and chances from play. Eventually Paddy Doherty opened our account with a point from play. Points followed from Paddy Doherty, John Morley, Sean Cassidy and Darragh Campion. Wolf Tones replaced with three points of their own which left the 0-5 to 0-3 at half time. The second half saw Wolfe Tones respond and go in front by four points. At this stage Wolfe Tones were dominating matters and with the game slipping from our grasp a few changes in position and in personnel saw things turn in our favour. We scored 2-3 in the last 10minutes which saw us become Champions. What a wonderful feeling and here I would like to thank all our supporters on the night and during the campaign. On the night and during the year we had great performances. Starting in goals with Dean Reddy as dependable as ever. Our full back line consisted of Enda Byrne, Timmy Lennon (Captain) and Robbie Clarke were solid as rocks all year. The half back line on the night was Paddy Carpenter, Oisín Gryson, Cathal Murphy plus the unlucky Barry Clarke who couldn’t start due to injury performed heroically on the night and all year. At midfield John Morley and Darragh Campion kept a good supply of ball going into our forwards combined with half forwards Owen Smyth, Michael Doherty and Darren Fox gave us a solid performance around midfield all year as an attacking force and defensively. This was a major part of our game plan and here Frankie Carty and Owen Greene maintained our performance level all year and again on the night. Our inside forwards of Jason Fox, Paddy Doherty and Sean Cassidy plus Jason Reddy and Aidan Gill made sure the scoreboard was kept ticking over on a regular basis. Finally I would like to thank Paddy Ryan, Lilly Fox for the help, Michael Doyle, Harry Rooney who helped in the training of the team. Our kit man Brian Clarke and also looked after our footballs on the night and all during the year. Thank you to Cormac and Gina. Last but not least my old buddy Jim Clarke who coached me out of retirement thanks Jim. Also our sponsors AGT Contracts (Gerry Tuite) and Swans & Fox’s.
Yours in Sports,
Deasiún Ó Fionnachta
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More Photos to follow of the Final !!!!
