May 28th – Watergrasshill United U15 CSL League Champions 2011/12

Watergrasshill United U15 CSL League Champions 2011/12

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that”: Bill Shankley

“In the last ten minutes of a football match that means everything if you don’t know what to do then just pray”: Noel Prendergast

On April 30^th last Watergrasshill United completed a remarkable season by clinching the U15 CSL division 3 Title with a hard fought 2-2 draw away to reigning 3 times CSL champions Macroom. It is a well deserved league triumph for a team that have been together for the last 6 years and proved a triumph of perseverance, hard work, skill and determination. The team finished with a true league record of 11 wins, two draws and a goal difference of 92 scored and 17 against (The only loss occurred due to a fixture clash when a shadow team was fielded). In all a great season for a team that needed to win a league and hopefully will go onwards and upwards in the seasons ahead. Given below is a little profile of each of the remarkable players that make up our squad.

Squad

PJ Dennehy (captain): Superbly talented player with a tremendous attitude and a great leader. If you had to pick one player to go into battle for you it would be PJ.

Denis Hegarthy (vice captain): Denis had a superb season in the centre of the back four. Again has a first class attitude and great coolness despite repeatedly marking the opposition’s best player.

Conor O Brien (vice captain): Conor is a very versatile strong and brave player who is an intergral part of the team. He has improved remarkably in the last few seasons.

Adam Murphy: The joker of the team with layers of natural talent which means he combines goalkeeping and centre forward duties effortlessly. A man with a known sweet tooth who surely doesn’t come to the matches just for the half time jaffa cakes!!

Eoin Hammond: Again Eoin combines goalkeeping duties with old style centre forward play and scored (and saved) a lot of important goals during the season.

Brian O Callaghan: Brian got our season off to a great start with a hat trick in our first league game. Another who has improved considerably in the last few seasons.

Dylan Ring: Travels from Cobh and is a remarkably dedicated player who again knows where the goal is. Dylan scored a vital goal in our last league match versus Macroom

Thomas O Connor: Another very dedicated player who has to travel a long distance to play with us Thomas combines bravery and great speed in the heart of our defence.

Ronan O Keeffe: Ronan is probably the most naturally gifted player on the team who would definitely be selected to represent the team in a skills challenge. Also has a great attitude and always puts the team first.

David O Flynn: One of the few on the team who can actually head the ball David is a very strong and dedicated defender. David is a pleasure to have around and a very important squad member.

Dilan O Donovan: In his first season with us Dilan is already a senior player within the squad and combines tremendous athleticism with huge natural ability. In our tough league run in when the chips were down Dilan delivered hugely. He scored our equaliser versus Macroom to capture the title.

Josh Cooke: Josh is a left legged free kick expert who would rival David Beckham with his dead ball ability. He scored a series of consecutive league hat trick that will keep his grandchildren in awe 60 years from now.

Chris Prendergast: A tremendous reader of the game who also combines great coolness and passing ability. Another who played his best soccer when the chips were down.

Aaron Collins: A vital member of the squad who overcomes playing a year above his age with loads of natural ability and talent. Aaron recovered from many injuries and setbacks to play in our two last vital league games.

Jack O Connor: Despite playing above his age Jack has a tremendous attitude and always plays to the best of his abilities. Has a very bright sporting future ahead of him.

Michael Goggin: Michael rejoined us for the second half of the season and quickly established himself as an important member of the team. Having huge amounts of natural talent, Michael won a prestigious Life FM man of the match award for a recent league performance versus Fermoy.

Dylan McCarthy: A good young player who played with us in the first half of the season

Kyle Cronin: Has the courage of a lion and a great winning mentality. Kyle scored 5 goals in the first half of one league game alone. Unfortunately Kyle missed the entire second half of the season with injury.

In conclusion having looked after these lads since they were very young it was great to see them finally gain a long overdue league title. Though certainly not angels they genuinely are a good bunch of lads that I have always enjoyed dealing with. I have to give great praise to my fellow co-manager Pat O Keeffe whose coolness, straight-talking and constant winning theme helped enormously throughout the year. This year as well Frank Cronin provided top class goal-keeping training which proved invaluable. From the longer road I have to thank Declan Brady who started out with me in the early days when there was no soccer for this age group in Watergrasshill and just fulfilling fixtures and survival was the name of the game. From the officer’s side of the club I have to mention Paul Sharkey who almost single handedly keeps Watergrasshill United afloat on a day to day basis and is also a great person to call on when you have something important to celebrate!. The accompanying photograph shows the team getting ready to enjoy a well deserved paintballing outing in Kartworld Watergrasshill

Yours In Sport

N-P