St. Anne’s win first trophy after nine year absence

St. Anne’s Ballylinan 7 

Bagenalstown B 0 

ST Anne’s Ballylinan went into this Division 3 match on Sunday knowing that they were already champions as a result of Killeshin B beating St. Anne’s nearest challengers Burrin B on Friday night but that didn’t stop them putting in a clinical performance against a Bagenalstown B side who turned up with a bare 11, although to be fair they could have had several goals themselves but couldn’t convert their chances. Even the rain and wind couldn’t derail the St. Anne’s party. What makes it even more significant is that this is the first time that St. Anne’s have had a senior team for the first time in nine years; this was their first year back in the Carlow League, and their first trophy in 13 years.

Ryan Brady raced into a first half hat-trick as St. Anne’s raced 3-0 ahead. The first saw him strike an effort from inside the box into the bottom right hand corner, the second came directly from a corner from the right, the wind guiding it in and the third with a volley from the right. Con Murray added a fourth with a cracker from the right outside the box being hit into the far bottom corner. Cathal Dunne struck a free from the left into the far bottom corner. Brady broke forward and he drifted out to the left before firing an effort across the box for goal number six. Brady also got goal number seven.

Speaking afterwards, manager Cliff McDonagh explained they were delighted to get across the line finally.

““It has been a tough season, but since Christmas we’ve been playing well. We’ve brought in a couple of new signings and that’s worked out well for us.” “All the lads are homegrown. They’re all from the village and they want to play for the club. There’s a real hunger here for the club to do well. It’s a massive club with great facilities and to not have a senior soccer team would be shocking so the lads wanted to do that,” he said.

“A few of the new signings have been excellent. Brian Gray has been brilliant for us. Kevin Farrell was outstanding before he broke his collarbone around Christmas — he had scored 12 goals at that stage. Ryan Brady has around 18 now, and with lads like Donnacha Loughman and Emmett Doyle back as well, we’ve built a really good core group. It’s been great.” 

Club Chairman Niall Walsh added to that, saying it’s fantastic to have a team back in Ballylinan and that they have further ambitions.

““It’s brilliant to see the older lads around the place and the talent that has come through the club is unreal. But we’re not going to stop here. Division 2 is calling and I’ll be saying that to the boys when I get in there — this is just a step along the way, we don’t stop here,” Walsh said “With the squad we have, we feel we can be a force to be reckoned with. There are nearly 40 players registered, so there’s great depth there.

“Cliff, Ian and the rest of the management team have done unbelievable work all year. The training has been excellent and the fundraising around the club has been great as well. Everything is going in the right direction,” he added Walsh explained that preparations began last year to get the team back up and running.

“We put feelers out last year and the interest was brilliant. From there, training kept progressing and more players came on board, and everything just seemed to fall into place for us.

“St Anne’s has always had a good reputation and there’s a proud tradition of bringing silverware back to the club. I’m just delighted to see the senior team up and running again. It’s 13 years since we last won anything, so this means a lot,” Walsh explained.

“It’s a credit to the players and to the people working behind the scenes as well. Eric, our treasurer, and the rest of the group have done great work. We’ve a really good core there and hopefully we can push on from here.

“The character the lads have shown all season has been absolutely brilliant.” 

ST. ANNE’S: Tom Wright, Emmet Doyle, Brian Kenna, Cathal Dunne, Sam Strutt, Darragh Loughman, Ryan Brady, Jesse McEvoy, Cathal Casey, Alex McDonagh, Con Murray.

Subs: Adam Lynskey, Eoin Dunne, Gavin Weston, Mikey Walsh, Ben Aldridge, Conor Dunne, Jack McDonnell.