logo

ENNISKERRY Junior A - 2010 Season Review

2010 turned out to be a season of missed opportunity for Enniskerry who had started the Season strongly with a good win against Lacken in Enniskerry. This was followed by a hard earned draw in the local derby against Kilmac where James Moloney , Colm Nugent and Aidan Mc Glinchy stood out . Unfortunately things started taking a turn for the worst with a loss to Rathnew in the next game by 1:8 to 1:4.

Enniskerry regrouped after this and played well against Valleymount and earned a draw in a keenly contested game in Pairc na Sillogue. Gavin Barton and Gary Kavanagh were the star performers that day. Coolboy were next to come to Enniskerry and despite having a number of great goal chances we fell to the reigning Junior A champions by 4 points.

Next up was a difficult away game in Kiltegan where Enniskerry had not won a game in over 2 decades. In a fantastic team performance which was led by Alan King , Eoin Brady, Anto O’Neill and Craig Williams the black and Amber men won out by 3 points.

A fine night was had by all and in particular our mentor Kevin O Connor who had just turned 70 that day! Kevin was later quoted as describing it as the “best day of his life” probably due more to the fact that he received a gift of a small sum of money from his loyal troops. Kevin also came out with another classic quote when stating “ I have no problem with your new Interval training techniques but I’ve no time for that Yogurt “ which was a reference to the Yoga training the team had started that year.

June came around very quickly and we were almost into championship season . A surprise loss at home to Roundwood dampened spirits a little however they were quickly raised again when we beat Laragh by 3 points in the first round of the championship in early July. Stephen King, Aidan Mc Glinchy and Ger Driver and a fantastic save from our keeper Stephen Driver ensured victory was secured.

A loss to a very strong St Pats team was the teams next league game before entering championship action against Newcastle up in Laragh. Despite starting very strongly and playing great football a last minute goal from Newcastle meant the spoils were shared. Good performances on the day came from Alex O Sullivan, Ger Ginty Aidan Mc Glinchy and Robert Tyndall.

Following a poor performance against Newcastle in the league a week later Enniskerry were back in Championship action against Baltinglass in late August. Thankfully a couple of guest speakers had been brought in to give the team some confidence and ensured they would fight to the bitter end no matter what.

This proved to be the case as after a disastrous start where we were 10 points down after 10 minutes Enniskerry battled back in part due to two late goals from Stephen King, an excellent display from Gavin Barton and a super sub performance from Paddy King and enniskerry were unlucky to lose the game by a solitary point! Next up was Blessington in a battle to stay Junior A and avoid the relegation battle. After a sluggish start and failing to get going we came to life with 10minutes to go. A small scuffle broke out in the middle of the field and Enniskerry were reduced to 14 men which seemed to inspire them. Up stood Craig Williams, Mossey O Gorman Donal and Neal finch and young Gavin Barton, who scored a wonder goal which paved the way for a famous victory over a dogged Blessington team.

With Junior A status assured we still had a chance of making the Semi Finals. Unfortunately we came up against a very strong unbeaten Balinacor team who would subsequently go on to win the Junior A title. Despite a strong start and taking the lead a number of times we faded badly in a wind and rain swept evening in the hills of Roundwood.

With the Championship dream gone for another year the Division 3 status had to be secured for another year. Next up was Knockannana who had comprehensively beaten us in 2009. Self belief was strong in the panel and a fantastic performance was put in by all the team. A couple of great goals by veterans Rob Tyndall and Alan King before a last minute brilliant side line point was sweetly struck by stephen king ensured an unlikely but extremely important one point win.

The final game of the season was also vital against Blessington who were also caught up in a potential relegation battle. But lead by Mossey O Gorman , Gary Kavanagh , Craig Williams and the returning Mark Tyndall (an inspired pick by John Tobin) victory was secured by 4 points thus ensuring Division 3 status was secured for another year.

Overall, considering the effort that was put in we probably overachieved over the course of the season and with a bit of self belief and a few more players selectors John Tobin, Robert Tyndall , Kevin O Connor and Manager Paul Wrynn should have plenty to look forward to in 2011.