One of the highlights of the clubs year was the success of the Under 18 team in winning the Division II League and Championship. At the recent Presentation night the players presented their manager John Kelly with a scrap book of match reports, photos and personal comments and memories of the year by the players. Included in the memento for John was a poem written by Niall Cosgrove and he recited this on the night. Below his the poem composed by Niall.
What A Season
Well February came And the sprints they commenced. Our forwards worked hard As did our defence.
Ran ragged in training And forced to race. With Colm McKee Often setting the pace.
We practiced our shots And aimed between the poles. And Rory Gray scoring Them sneaky wee goals.
We had a comfortable win At home to St. Joe’s. With a shot from BT Breaking poor John’s window.
Between hard tackling drills And boys getting mangled. And Cathal Hughes shooting From impossible angles.
We took a jaunt to Mullaghbawn Where they lost and didn’t know how. A rare point from Packie Watters That left Raymond and Ciara proud.
Also on the scoreboard Was Conor Murdoch with 3:02. He ran about all night Like a cheetah in the zoo.
We tried our very best In the hypothetical situation. But with a defeat to the ‘Blues We couldn’t hide our frustration.
We went to the Ogs For a challenge game. Where a great goal from McClelland Made the town side look lame.
Kieran Hughes took scores, “The Gooch” would have been proud of. Some under the crossbar And some hit above.
Fintan always took his scores With excellence and care. Before marching back to his corner And resuming fixing his hair.
We booked our place in the league final In the upcoming weeks. It was set then for Whitecross Where the victory we would seek.
Oisín Fearon and John McManus Both renowned for their guts and blockin’. Any forward who marked them Were in for quite a shockin’.
Aodhan Toner taking hard scores Making them look like a sinch. When Lyncher gave him them rubs He musta gave him a magical pinch.
It wasn’t all good though When a freak injury hit BT. But he got back just in time To help us claim the league.
The championship final came Where Barry roasted his man to the ground. And the bravest man on the team in nets – McGivern was solid and sound.
McCone won every ball that came And was never off his feet. As Brendan watched down at him Sat up in the President’s seat.
The ‘Nab were crowned the champions And Paudy lifted the cup. And John thought to himself, “Yiz are some bits ’a stuff.”
Then the league final came And Crossmaglen they hosted it. John reminding us that ‘Cruppin, “They’re a good outfit.”
When a half-time speech was needed Micky McGivern helped give just that. I don’t know who came out the worst That table, or Micky’s oul hat.
We clawed our way back in the second half And ended up 2 points down. But a last minute goal from Grugan Was sure to turn it around.
Then the final whistle sounded And the crowd they swarmed the field. And Petey Doran went mental Cuz we’d just won the league.
He jumped around with joy And accidently burst Leonard’s nose. But sure Conor didn’t care Cuz he’s a machine, as everyone knows.
At the start of the year the shooting Of both myself and Paudy was ket. He fancied himself to get more than me So we put on a bet.
I’d scored just 2 more than him At the end eventually. But the fiver we’d placed on the bet Well, that, I’ve yet to see.
Not to forget a special man Who was there when we’d get scattered. Was Declan McClelland who was always there To provide the lads with water.
Now the year has come to an end And we hope we did you proud. And can you believe that after 15 games Joe didn’t start one row.
What a season it has been And all thanks to John Kelly. Now back to work you go John In McAnerney’s fine deli.
By Niall Cosgrove
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