PREMIER - A POSITIVE FIRST YEAR BACK AT PREMIER LEVEL
Wednesday 18th August, 2005 saw our first Premier League game in many years as we hosted Ferrybank at Connors Park. We played out an entertaining 0-0 draw but wondered had we let a valuable two points slip on the night. Hibernians away followed and gained our first win with a 3-1 victory courtesy of goals from Rory Walah, Conor McDonald and Eddie Widger.
The first “local” derby of the season saw Bohs visit for the third game and it was the visitors who took the points on a 1-0 scoreline. Defeat in Southend the following Sunday, Nicky Corcoran our lone scorer and a 1-1 draw at home to Dungarvan with a Kieran Fitzgerald penalty hitting the net saw us have five games played with five points gained by the end of August.
September started well with a 6-0 win over Johnville, a hat-trick from Conor McDonald, two from Rory Walsh and one from Des Mullett, followed by a tremendous 2-1 victory over Carrick, Kieran Fitzgerald and Conor McDonald netting. The second half of the month was not so good as we fell to Waterford Crystal and Tramore, both away on scorelines of 2-0 and 4-0 respectively.
A Conor McDonald penalty was our only joy in a 3-1 away defeat which was followed by a 3-2 defeat at home to Hibs, Eric O’Connor and Nicky Corcoran scoring. A Friday night flood-lit game away to Bohs saw the sides share the points in a 0-0 draw. Two Conor McDonald goals in Dungarvan secured a 2-1 win.
We had a 0-0 draw at home to Southend before traveling to Johnville, where we won 3-1 through goals from Des Mullett (2) and Ian Tilson. This result ensured our Premier League status always a notable day, particularly for the promoted team.
We finished our league campaign against three of the top teams drawing 1-1 at home to Tramore (Stephen Hall) before going down 1-0 to Waterford Crystal and 4-0 to champions Carrick United.
We finished the league in 6th place which was excellent for our first season back in this division.
FAI Junior Cup
A Rory Walsh goal saw us through away to De La Salle in the first round. Rory Walsh and Nicky Corcoran had us 2-0 up away to Hibs in Round 2 before we imploded and lost 3-2.
Munster Junior Cup
A short lived run in this competition as we fell to Lismore at the first hurdle. Ian Tilson gave us the lead but on a heavy Ozier Park pitch the visitors found the energy to comeback.
Ardagh Cup
We opened in the Quarter Final at home to Southend where goals from Kieran Fitzgerald and Conor McDonald were leveled by Southend. Penalties ensued and we won through with successful penalties from Conor McDonald, Danny Sheridan, Steve Hall, Kieran Fitzgerald and Eric O’Connor. After a long wait while disputes were being resolved at committee levels, we played Dungarvan in the semi-final going down 1-0.
A very positive first year back at Premier level.
UNDER 14A LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
LEAGUE
We started the season strongly with wins over Seaview (1-0, Robin Spencer) and Ferrybank (4-1, Robin Spencer, Paul Power (2), Jack O’Shea). Jack Gaule and Ian McCarthy scored to gain the points at home to Wat. Crystal before we gained further points in Seaview (2-0, Jack O’Shea, Stephen Flynn) and at home to Ferrybank (7-0, Robin Spencer (4), Aaron Molloy, Niall O’Sullivan and Paul Power.
An important win against Tramore came next on a 2-1 scoreline, Robin Spencer and Ian McCarthy scoring the goals. A 4-0 win against Southend through Robin Spencer (2), Niall Sullivan and Aaron Molloy was enough to take the title.
SFAI Cup
We opened with a 4-0 win in Ferrybank (Robin Spencer(3), Ian McCarthy), before entertaining Clonmel Town. This game ended 2-2 (Jack O’Shea and Paul Power) and we came through 4-3 on penalties.
Jack O’Shea, Tony O’Brien and Stephen Flynn scored in Tipperary as we defeated St. Michaels 3-0 in the next round. Bunclody were next to fall with Robin Spencer (2) and Jack Gaule (2) doing the damage.
This brought us to Mayo in the last 32 to play Knock/Kiltimagh and we were unlucky to be beaten 1-0.
CUP
A 2-0 win over Southend in the quarter final was followed by a 4-0 win over Ferrybank in the semi. The final however, did not go our way and Hibs took the cup on a 3-2 scoreline.
UNDER 14B LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
The under 14B team also took their league title. We started the season with victories over Railway 3-1 (Kieran McGettigan, Paul Connolly, Rob Cunningham) and Johnville 2-1 (Ben Cunningham (2)). A 2-1 home win over Rathgormack was followed by a 2-0 win away to Piltown (Ben Cunningham, Barry Crossan).
October saw us beat St. Saviours 5-0 away (Rob Cunningham (2), Brian McDonald (2) and Stephen O’Keeffe and De La Salle away 3-0.
Our first defeat came in Ballinroad in December as we lost 3-0 but recovered well to gain a good point in Hibs from a goalless draw. Two games on the road gained six points as we beat Railway 2-1 (Barry Crossan, Brian McDonald) and Rathgormack 4-0.
Home wins against De La Salle 6-0 (Rob Cunningham (3), Ben Cunningham (2) and Barry Crossan) and St. Saviours 3-1 (Kieran McGettigan, Brian McDonald and Dean McGarry) kept us in the frame as the season neared its conclusion.
Defeat at home to Hibs (1-2, Rob Cunningham) looked to have ended our chances but a final victory over Johnville on a 7-1 scoreline proved to be enough to take the title.
UNDER 13 CUP WINNERS – LEAGUE LOST ON LAST DAY
LEAGUE
A very competitive league with Villa, Bohs and Waterford Crystal battling it out until the last day of the season. Opening wins against Southend (Jack Gaule) and Ferrybank (Jack Gaule (4) and Reece Rooney were followed by draws against both rivals in the space of three days. Both games finished 2-2, leaving the division wide open.
A third consecutive draw away to Dungarvan seemed to have damaged our chances but wins over Kilmacthomas, Tramore and Southend kept us in the hunt. As the season end neared, we won 2-0 in Ferrybank but lost 2-1 in Tramore which meant we needed to get four points from the last two games.
Jonathan McEvoy and Jack Gaule scored as we beat Bohs 2-0 to take matters to a final game against Wat. Crystal. Despite taking the lead we lost the game 2-1 and Wat. Crystal took the league title.
CUP
We started the competition with a 7-0 win against Tramore B (Jack Gaule (5), Dean McGarry and Reece Rooney), this was followed by a 1-0 win against Hibs with Jack Gaule hitting the net.
The quarter final saw a 3-0 win over Wat. Crystal with Jack Gaule, Jonathan McEvoy and Dean McGarry scoring. A comfortable win over Carrick in the semi-final followed with goals from Brian McDonald, Jack Gaule (2), Wayne Robinson, Jonathan McEvoy and Eoin Kindlon.
Under 13 Cup Final Villa A 5 Dungarvan 2
Reece Rooney gave us an early lead followed quickly by a second from Eoin Kindlon. Dungarvan brought the game back to 2-1 before half-time. In the second half Jonathan McEvoy made it 3-1 before Dungarvan pulled another back but goals from Jack Gaule and a Wayne Robinson penalty completed the scoring.
SFAI CUP
In this competition we had wins over Dungarvan and St. Michaels before going out to Clonmel Town in the third round.
UNDER 12 DOUBLE WINNERS
LEAGUE
We opened the season in good form beating Hibs at home 1-0 with a Conor Coad goal before taking all three points from an away game in Bohs, goals from Stephen Curry, Mark Hobbs and Jonathan McEvoy. Seaview gave us a tremendous game in Connors Park with Villa edging it 3-2 through Conor Coad, Barry Power and Aaron Galibert. One of our best performances of the season followed as we beat Tramore 5-0 in Tramore (Conor Coad, Aaron Galibert (2), Jonathan McEvoy and Eoin Kindlon).
January saw our first league game for three months and Jonathan McEvoy made it his day with five goals against Carrick. Gracious Byavu, Eoin Kindlon and Kevin Flynn also hit the net. Another three months before we played Bohs and won 3-0 in Connors Park courtesy of goals from Aaron Galibert (2) and Barry Power.
That was enough to see us over the line and a well deserved league title.
CUP
Our cup campaign started with a 1-0 win at home to Southend, Jonathan McEvoy on target. That was followed with a 4-1 win against Ballinroad, Aaron Galibert, Barry Power and Jonathan McEvoy (2) seeing us through to the semi-finals. There we played Hibs in Connors Park winning 3-0 with goals from Mark Hobbs and Jonathan McEvoy (2).
A first half hat-trick from Jonathan McEvoy did the damage in the finals as defeated Kilmacthomas 5-1 in Ozier Park. Eoin Kindlon with a fine strike and Gracious Byavu with a splendid individual goal completed the scoring.
SFAI Cup
We opened with a 6-0 victory over Johnville (Rohan Date (3), Barry Power, David Cooley and Conor Coad) before a 4-1 win over Killeshin (Rohan Date, Barry Power, Eoin Kindlon and Jonathan McEvoy). Next up was a tough away trip to Evergreen of Kilkenny and after a great game we came through 2-1 after extra time with two Jonathan McEvoy goals. In the final round of the region, we faced Clonmel Town but lost on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
UNDER 11 LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
We secured the Under 11A title, only dropping our first points in the final league game when the title was already won. The campaign couldn’t have had a tougher start as we played away to Bohs and came away 3-1 winners after being a goal down (Conor Coad, Daniel Ahearne (2)). A comfortable win against Ferrybank followed and then came our first game against Hibs who proved to be the second team in the league. Again we went a goal down before Daniel Ahearne and Darren Finn scored to gain the points.
A trip to Dungarvan in October produced a big win with Conor Coad, David Cooley, Daniel Ahearn, Gavin O'Donovan, Darren Finn, Tadhg Whelan and Kenneth McEvoy among the goals. Tramore provided stiffer opposition in our next outing as we defeated the seasiders 2-1 in Connors Park, Kenneth McEvoy and Gavin O’Donovan scoring.
2005 was ended in fine style as we defeated Carrick on New Years eve, goals coming from Tadgh Whelan, Darren Finn, Daniel Ahearne, Walter Dunphy, Austin Gleeson, Daryl Hennessy, Conor Coad and Jack O’Donoghue. A 4-1 win in Southend followed with Gavin O’Donovan (2), Conor Coad and Darren Finn finding the net.
Daniel Ahearne’s goal was enough to take the points at home to Bohs. Ferrybank away was next up and David Cooley with a hat-trick, Tadgh Whelan (2) and Conor Coad gave us a good win. Victories against Southend (Darren Finn, Conor Coad, Jamie Cross, Gavin O’Donovan and Tadgh Whelan) and Dungarvan (Conor Sheahan, Darren Finn, Daryl Hennessy, Daniel Ahearne (2), Kenneth McEvoy and an OG) followed and just one more win was needed.
That win came in Tramore, with Conor Coad and Kenneth McEvoy scoring the important goals. We lost 1-0 to Hibs in the final game but a great season was had a we were deserving winners of the league title.
SFAI Cup
This team also gave us something to cheer in the SFAI cup, getting to the Quarter Finals. The first round against Hibs provided a 2-1 win through goals from Daniel Ahearne and Conor Coad.
The last 32 saw us make the trip to Clonmel Town, where goals from Darren Finn and Austin Gleeson saw us through. The last 16 saw a home game against Knocknacarra from Galway and we comfortably made our way through on a 3-0 scoreline, courtesy of goals from Kenneth McEvoy (2) and Conor Coad.
It was more Galway opposition that put us out in the Quarter Finals as we lost 3-2 at home to Corofin, Darren Finn and Conor Coad on the scoresheet.
Local Cup
We defeated Portlaw 6-0 in the opening round (Tadgh Whelan(2), Conor Coad, Gavin O’Donovan, Darren Finn and Kenneth McEvoy) before beating Bohs 2-0 in the quarter final (David Cooley and Darren Finn). We went out at the semi-final stage losing 4-3 in Dungarvan.
VILLA TAKE HOME TWO CUPS FROM MANCHESTER
Villa FC travelled to Manchester for the third successive Easter weekend to play in the prestigious Manchester International Tournament. It proved to be a very successful weekend with Villa taking home the Under 12 and Under 14 Cups and being beaten in the final of the Under 10 Cup.
Under 12
Saturday saw the Under 12’s record an easy victory over Mungret of Limerick in the opening game with goals from Jonathan McEvoy, Barry Power, Conor Coad, Chris Grant, Nicholas McGuire, Daniel Ahearne, Gracious Byavu and Aaron Galibert. The group was won with a 1-0 victory over Droylsden from Manchester, Jonathan McEvoy getting the goal.
Sunday’s semi-final saw an excellent performance to defeat local side Harrowfield 3-0. Jonathan McEvoy, Mark Hobbs and Chris Grant finding the net. DDSL side Verona provided the final opposition. After a close first half the game remained scoreless. Jonathan McEvoy gave us a second half lead and Aaron Galibert added a second. Verona scored late in the game but couldn’t prevent the joyous scenes after the game as after three years of trying, we won our first Manchester Cup title.
Squad : Marc Weldon, Mark Hobbs, Conn Kirby, Adam Potter, Jamie Cross, Eoin Kindlon, Barry Power, Conor Coad, Kevin Flynn, Jonathan McEvoy, Aaron Galibert, Nicholas McGuire, Chris Grant, David Cooley, Gracious Byavu, Daniel Ahearne, Gavin O’Donovan and Jessica Gleeson.
Under 14
The Under 14 competition saw two Villa teams compete and the outcome will live long in the memory.
The A side started their campaign with a 2-0 win over English side Openshaw with Jack O’Shea and Robin Spencer scoring. A 0-0 draw followed against Buttevant A. The final game saw a good 4-0 win over Mosley with Paul Power (2), Robin Spencer and Aaron Molloy on the scoresheet.
The B Side defeated East Bury 1-0 in their opening game courtesy of a Tony Harris goal. A well earned 0-0 against Maltese side Valetta followed and the day was completed with a 2-0 win against Buttevant B, Brian McDonald netting twice.
The Quarter finals saw Villa A beat St. Pauls Artane B 1-0 with a Tony O’Brien goal. The B team produced a tremendous performance to defeat SFAI cup quarter finalists St. Pauls Artane A 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Scorers from the penalties were Brian McDonald, Jason Walsh, Barry Crossan, Dean McGarry and Stephen Vereker.
The semi-final paired Villa A and Villa B and after another 0-0 draw, penalties were taken. The B team came out on top with four well taken penalties from Brian McDonald, Stephen Vereker, Jason Walsh and Dean McGarry.
And to the final Villa B v Buttevant A. After defeating the two top rated teams nothing was going to stop the Villa B side from taking the cup and they well deserved their 2-0 victory courtesy of two goals from Brian McDonald in the first half. Six games and no goal conceded, a tremendous team effort lead superbly by captain Barry Crossan.
B Squad Nick Gallwey, Paul Connolly, Stephen Vereker, Stephen Cleere, Jason Walsh, Andrew Baxter, Barry Crossan, Dean McGarry, Kieran McGettigan, Tony Harris, Brian McDonald, Keith Finn, Eoghan O’Connell, Adam Roylance, Shane Pierce, Niall Walsh and Conall O’Brien
A squad Robert Bresnan, Jack O’Shea, Eric Marsh, Seamus Byrne, Ian McCarthy, Kevin Kelly, Robin Spencer, Paul Power, Aaron Molloy, Tony O’Brien, Dylan Mernagh, Stephen Flynn, Niall O’Sullivan, Thomas O’Brien and Stephen Roche.
Under 10
Two teams competed at this age group. The A team started with a 0-0 draw against Quorm of Malta. The second game against Mungret saw a 2-0 win with goals from Evan O’Donnell and Tadhg Whelan. The next game against local side Radcliffe produced another 0-0 draw. The final group game against Red Vulcans saw Evan O’Donnell score in a 1-0 win. This saw this side through to the cup semi-final.
In the semi-final Droylsdale of Manchester provided the opposition and after a good game we emerged winners by a lone goal scored by Tadhg Whelan. The final saw us meet Red Vulcans again but this time we were defeated 3-1, Evan scoring again.
A Squad Adam Donovan, Tadgh Whelan, Austin Gleeson, Luke Kelly, David Hobbs, Tommy Power, Lee Crowley, David Tyrrell, Evan O’Donnell and Liam Coonagh.
The B side went undefeated through their group drawing three games and winning one, Aaron O’Connor scoring twice in a 2-0 win. This meant we went to the semi-final of the plate where we suffered a 3-0 defeat against a good Manchester side. The ¾ fourth place game saw us go down 3-1 with Jordan Mercer on the scoresheet.
B Squad Aidan Purcell, James O’Neill, Niall McCabe, Aaron O’Connor, Craig Brown, Sean Murphy, Stephen Doheny, Adam Doyle, Colin Barry, James Coad and Jordan Mercer.
In addition to the tournament we also went to the Manchester United v Sunderland premiership match where we witnessed a historic occasion for Waterford football with two Waterford players opposing each other in the Premiership i.e. John O’Shea and Daryl Murphy.
We had 70 players in Manchester for four days and we must acknowledge our thanks to the players for the manner in which they represented the club off and on the pitch. Well done to all the managers and committee who continue to promote our participation in such tournaments.
A huge thanks goes to our “catering staff” who made soup and sandwiches at a speed which would put any professional caterer to shame. Also many thanks to D.Flynn Construction who erected our Gazebo on time and at budgeted cost, although maybe next year it will stay standing for more than a couple of hours!! Thank you all.
Finally, if our bus drivers John and Mick read this……..many thanks.
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