VILLA BACK IN PREMIER FOOTBALL
1A League Villa 3 Tramore Rangers 1
Villa are back in the Premier League after clinching the 1A league against Tramore Rangers in Ozier Park on Tuesday night. We started the game well and after 10 minutes Ian Tilson gave us the lead with a fine header. Tramore Rangers came into the game and had long periods of possession but it was Villa who were creating the better chances. The second half saw more chances missed and we paid the price with 18 minutes remaining, when Tramore Rangers equalised. A nerve racking 20 minutes followed before Richie Burke scored a tremendous goal in injury time to ensure that the league was won. Ian Tilson scored our third immediately afterwards to spark huge celebrations.
Jimmy O’Neill, Chairman of the Waterford Junior League presented the trophy to team captain Alan Doheny.
Many congratulations to all the players involved, to the team management Liam Cooley, David Butler, Ray Moran and Des Moran for their work throughout the season.
24/5/ 2005 1ST DIVISION CUP FINAL VILLA 3 BOLTON 0
An Ian Tilson hat-trick was the highlight of this game as the 1A side completed their season by completing the double. We started slowly but as the first half wore on we started to dominate and should have been ahead before Ian’s first goal after 25 minutes. Alan Doheny was called upon to make an excellent save to ensure we went in 1-0 up at half-time.
The second half saw Conor McDonald and Ian Tilson cause the Bolton defence huge problems. It was no surprise when Ian scored his second with 20 minutes to go and he completed the hat-trick with an excellent goal. The work rate of Ian Cantwell and Nicky Corcoran was relentless and we ran out deserved winners.
Martin Flavin of the Junior League presented the Sheridan Cup to Alan Doheny.
It has been a tremendous season for this team and it was great to see such a large support from all sections of the club at the game. We can now look forward to mid-August and the start of our first Premier League campaign for some time.
Squad : Alan Doheny, Lee Douglas, Damien Roache, Kieran Fitzgerald, Ian Nagle, Richie Burke, Ian Cantwell, Nicky Corcoran, Danny Sheridan, Conor McDonald, Ian Tilson, Jimi McGrath, Eric O’Connor, Des Mullett, Colm Cleary and Alan Ryan.
30/3/2005 YOUTH LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Villa 2 Tramore 0
Many congratulations to our Youth team who secured the Youth A league on Sunday, beating Tramore 2-0 to go through the season unbeaten in the league.
Tramore needed the win from this game to stay in the hunt. The first half was a physical affair in which few chances were created. We dominated large periods of the second half and it was just reward when Niall Irwin and Alan Ryan scored to give us the three points.
Congratulations to all the players and to Ray and Des Moran for their work throughout the season.
21/6/05 UNDER 13 LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Our Under 13 side rounded off a wonderful season for the club by winning a play off against Waterford Crystal on Tuesday evening in Poleberry. We started the game very well and early goals by Robin Spencer and Paul Power were no more than we deserved. We could have added to this lead, but just before half time Crystal scored from a penalty to bring themselves back into the game. We controlled much of the second half but could not add to our lead and we had to endure a nervy last few minutes as Crystal threw everything into grabbing an equaliser. Fortunately we held out to claim an overdue league title for this team. Well done to the panel and managers Liam Connors, Liam Butler and Richie Burke. Full panel is Rob Bresnan, Kevin Kelly, Eric Marsh, Mark Gunning, Stephen Flynn, Seamus Byrne, Stephen Lynn, Paul Power, Tony O'Brien, Ian McCarthy, Jack O'Shea, Aaron Molloy, Ciaran Donnelly, Brian Curry and Robin Spencer.
10/5/2005 UNDER 12 LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
The Under 12A team brought our third league title of the season to Connors Park with a 3-1 win away to Southend. We took the lead after 15 minutes when Wayne Robinson headed home a Ben Cunningham corner. We had other chances in the first half but the first period ended 1-0. The nerves were eased somewhat 10 minutes into the second half with Jack Gaule getting on the score-sheet. Southend didn’t give up and got back into the game with 10 minutes left. However, Jonathan McEvoy made sure of the three points with a cool finish to make it 3-1.
Throughout the season, this team have been beaten just once in the league and are deserving winners of the league. Well done to Martin Robinson, Roy Cunningham and John Kindlon who have guided the team through the season.
Squad : Aaron Fanning, Michael Chan, Wayne Robinson, Thomas O’Brien, Kevin Coghlan, Dean McGarry, Andrew Baxter, Stephen O’Keeffe, Adam Potter, Jack Gaule, Brian McDonald, Ben Cunningham, Conall O’Brien, Eoin Kindlon, Marc Weldon, Alex Bryan.
24/5/05 UNDER 12 CUP FINAL VILLA A 3 KILMACTHOMAS 0
The Under 12A team completed their double when they defeated Kilmacthomas at the RSC on Friday night. Playing with a strong breeze in the first half, we started well and after ten minutes went ahead when Andrew Baxter scored from a Ben Cunningham corner. With seventeen minutes on the clock Jack Gaule scored our second, calmly beating the ‘keeper. Four minutes later Jack scored his second to give us a 3-0 lead at the half-time break.
The second half was a tighter affair as Kilmacthomas came at us but we were strong in defence with Wayne Robinson and Adam Potter dominant. With no further scoring in the second half we finished up 3-0 winners.
Waterford Schoolboy League Chairman, Paddy Farrell presented the Cup to Wayne Robinson in front of a large Villa support.
Squad : Aaron Fanning, Thomas O’Brien, Kevin Coghlan, Wayne Robinson, Adam Potter, Eoin Kindlon, Stephen O’Keeffe, Dean McGarry, Andrew Baxter, Ben Cunningham, Jack Gaule, Jonathan McEvoy, Brian McDonald, Conall O’Brien, Michael Chan and Marc Weldon.
18/6/05 SONNY NOLAN TOURNAMENT WINNERS
Well done to our under 10 team who won the Sonny Nolan Tournament for the second year in a row in Tramore on Saturday. This team played some lovely football throughout the tournament, defeating De La Salle, St Pauls B, Tramore C, Tramore B and Bolton to reach the semi final. The semi final proved to be the toughest game of the tournament when after an even contest we won through on penalties against Tramore A. The final against Ballinroad saw us take an early lead through Conor Coad, this relaxed us and further goals from Conor, Daniel Aherne, Ken McEvoy and Alex O’Mahoney eased us to victory. Our B and C teams also acquitted themselves very well making this a very successful tournament for the club. Winning Panel was Tom Mullally, Jamie Cross, Christian Cullen, Evan Mulligan, Darren Finn, Gavin O’Donovan, Conor Coad, Daniel Aherne, Ken McEvoy and Alex O’Mahoney, with managers Paul Morrissey, Larry O’Donovan and John Kindlon.
MAY 2005 SCHOOLBOY TRIP TO HOLLAND
A party of 36 children and 13 adults made the journey to Rotterdam last week to play against dutch clubs IFC, Zwervers and Meto. Following a day of travelling on Friday, we were ready for a day of football on Saturday.
The tournament was played at the impressive grounds of IFC, in a town about 10 miles from Rotterdam. The first impression was of excellent facilities, plenty of pitches and a number of clubs in one centre.
To ensure plenty of football for all, our 36 players were divided into 3 squads of 12. The first team played the eventual winners in their first group game going down 2-0 to a quality side. We followed up with one defeat, one win and a draw to complete the group stages. Our second team gave away a year in age to most of the teams and performed well in all their games, physical strength being the difference as we conceded late goals in three games. The third team started their day with a 4-1 win and two draws and a defeat followed.
In the play-off sections, the first team won the opening game 1-0 before losing the plate final 1-0 to Zwveres. The second team ended their day with a good win in their play-off game, while the third team after losing the plate semi-final on penalties, came back to win their last game of the day.
A very tiring day for all the players, all of whom performed very well against strong opposition. A number of interesting ideas were seen, taking corners from 10 yards in, taking goal-kicks from the edge of the penalty area but the most striking thing about the competition was the sporting manner in which all the games were played.
The day ended with all players receiving their medals and a enjoying a barbeque.
Saturday night saw a visit to the town of Dordrecht near our accommodation.
Sunday was planned as a day in a FUN park and that is exactly what it turned out to be with everybody hugely enjoying the park. A very tired group arrived back in Waterford on Sunday night after a fabulous weekend.
Once again all the players were a credit to the club with their performances on the pitch and their behaviour off it.
Discussions are already under-way for Villa to host next year’s competition and it certainly won’t be our last visit to Holland.
Travelling Party - Jack Kelly, Ben Cross, Karl Byrne, Jack Mannix, Anthony Hayes, Ian Keohan, Paul Mates, Kevin Curran, Jonathan O’Brien, Robbie Lannon, Noel Frisby, Daniel Moloney, Nicholas McGuire, Barry Power, Alex Bryan, Rohan Date, Ciaran Purcell, Kenny Patterson, Barry McNamara, Kevin Flynn, Stephen Curry, Mark Hobbs, Conn Kirby, Dean Purcell, Chris Grant, Ben O’Dwyer, Adam Donovan, Shane Donovan, Karl Wubben, Richard Wubben, Alex O’Mahony, Eamonn Beardsley, Aaron Galibert, Sean Brenner, Lloyd O’Mahony, Jeff Power.
30/3/2005 MANCHESTER CUP 2005 REPORT
We made our second trip to the Manchester Cup over Easter Weekend, bringing two under 10 teams and our under 12A team.
Under 12
We started our campaign against Avondale from Cork. We absorbed some early pressure while we settled into the game and an entertaining first half ended scoreless. After 15 minutes of the second half we took the lead when Stephen O’Keeffe headed home a Brian McDonald corner. Andrew Baxter made sure of the points with an excellent strike with five minutes remaining. Later on Saturday we played Lisbon St.Anthonys from Manchester. We dominated the early stages of this game and scored after seven minutes through Brian McDonald. We should have been further ahead, but it was 10 minutes into the second half before Jack Gaule made it 2-0. We let our concentration slip at that point and allowed LSA back into the game with two sloppy goals to end the game at 2-2. The point was enough to top the group and reach the semi-finals.
On Sunday morning we met Nufarm from Cork in the semi-final. The game was only one minute old when Jack Gaule fired home. Again a slip in concentration and Nufarm scored twice to lead 2-1 at half-time. We tried in vain to equalise until the very last minute when confusion in the Nufarm defence allowed Dean McGarry to equalise and bring the game into extra-time. Four minutes in Jack Gaule gave us the lead which was quickly levelled with a penalty. Just on the half-time break Jonathan McEvoy with a beautiful lob put us 4-3 ahead. Again we were pulled back and remarkably from the kick-off Jack Gaule completed his hat-trick and we were through to the final on a 5-4 scoreline.
By the time the final arrived we had an extremely tired team carrying various injuries. Kilreen Celtic also from Cork proved too strong and ran out 4-0 winners. A tremendous effort from all the players and for the second year we finish as runners-up in the under 12 competition.
Squad : Aaron Fanning, Kevin Coghlan, Michael Chan, Wayne Robinson, Adam Potter, Andrew Baxter, Dean McGarry, Stephen O’Keeffe, Eoin Kindlon, Jack Gaule, Jonathan McEvoy, Brian McDonald, Conall O’Brien, Thomas O’Brien and Marc Weldon.
Under 10A
The Under 10A playing 7-a-side football, started against Middleton A from Manchester. A tight game ended 0-0 as both teams settled into the tournament. Our second game saw St. Pauls Artane take the lead with a controversial goal. We levelled before half-time through Kenneth McEvoy. We dominated the second half and were unlucky not to find a winner as the game ended 1-1. Droylsden of Manchester provided the opposition for the third game, a game we won 4-0 with goals coming from Kenneth McEvoy, Conor Coad(2) and an o.g. Our final group game saw us face Mungret B and we surprisingly found ourselves behind before a well taken Conor Coad hat-trick gave us the points. This meant we topped the group and were into the semi-finals.
Sunday morning and the semi-final against Medlock from Manchester. We dominated this game from the start and ran out comfortable 4-0 winners with the goals coming from Conor Coad (3) and Kenneth McEvoy. The final against Middleton A repeated the opening fixture of the tournament and for the second time no goals were scored. That however, does not tell the story of a very entertaining game with chances from both sides in the first half. We had the better of the second half and were unlucky not to score. Extra time couldn’t settle the matter and we faced penalties. Middleton won 5-4 with Conor Coad, Jamie Cross, Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin O’Donovan on target for us. A tremendous performance from this side against teams who play the 7-a-side game every week – a lesson for Waterford football perhaps ?
Squad : Tom Mulally, Daniel Ahearne, Kenneth McEvoy, Christian Cullen, Jamie Cross, Darren Finn, Tadhg Whelan, Gavin O’Donovan, Conor Coad and Jack O’Donoghue.
Under 10B
Our second under 10 side started out against Middleton B from Manchester. Austin Gleeson was our scorer as we were beaten 2-1. Our second game against Mungret A proved to be our best result of the day as Ronan Cleere gave us the lead before two Sam Butler goals made the game safe. Medlock, another home side beat us 1-0 in the third group game, a game we were unlucky to lose after playing some good football. Another 1-0 defeat against Lisbon St.Anthonys in the final group game doesn’t tell the story of a superb performance with us having far superior football but they had the strength and scored the lone goal of the game. At the end of the group stages this team were through to the plate semi-finals.
Sunday morning’s semi-final started a day of huge excitement as we played Mungret B. A highly entertaining scoreless draw was followed by five minutes extra-time and with the deadlock still not broken – penalties. We won 4-3 on penalties with Lee Crowley, Ciaran Kelly, Austin Gleeson and Ronan Cleere with the final penalty on target. With two great saves from Ben O’Keeffe in the goal during the shoot-out, we were through to the plate final.
The final saw us paired against Middleton B, our staring opposition on Saturday. A very good final saw us lose by a lone goal. All the players were naturally dis-appointed to lose the final but should be very pleased with their performance in reaching that stage.
Squad : Ben O’Keeffe, David Walshe, Conor Sheahan, Conor McGettigan, Walter Dunphy, Austin Gleeson, Ronan Cleere, Ciaran Kelly, Lee Crowley, Sam Butler.
Finally….
The travelling party consisted of 35 children and 22 adults. We wish to congratulate all the players who did themselves and the club proud on the pitch over the weekend. We also commend all the players for their brilliant behaviour all weekend – it was a pleasure to bring these players away. Well done and many thanks to the team managers who as always put their all into the competition, to the parents who travelled our thanks for your support and for your help throughout the weekend. Roll on Manchester Cup 2006!!
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