by John O’Neill

Following the decision of Sean O’Neill to focus on playing, Jimmy Nolan brought Chris
McGrath on board to help manage the junior team. Our junior squad this year was a
youthful bunch for the most part but with a backbone of experienced players such as
Michael Grove and Sean O’Neill. Hopes were high that the juniors could better last
years’ achievement of reaching the semi-finals of the championship.
The league campaign began with a tough test away to Carnew. Having started very
slowly and ending up ten points down at half time, Annacurra bravely fought back with
goals from Jack O’Sullivan and Bob Fitzgerald but ran out of time, losing by three points
in the end.
The next league match was away to Arklow Geraldines. At half time Annacurra appeared
to be dragged into a dog fight, leading by one point having played much the better
football. A goal by corner forward, John O’Neill at the start of the second half seemed to
turn the game as Annacurra cut loose in the second half, gaining their first win by a
margin of ten points. Consistency was hard to come by as encouraging performances
such as this were followed by disappointing ones such as the home loss to Ballymanus.
For the second year in a row, the men from the gap plundered a win with three second
half goals.
Annacurra travelled to Coolkenno seeking a moral boosting win but a red card for one of
the Annacurra men and some ill fortune led to another narrow loss. Table toppers,
Kiltegan travelled to Annacurra looking for an easy win. They were surprised however by
a determined display and a poacher’s goal helped Annacurra to a 1-4 a piece draw at half
time. Annacurra were unable to match this endeavour in the second half though and
ended up once again coming off second best. The league campaign was rounded off with
another loss to neighbours, Aughrim.
Despite the loss of some well performing players midway through the season, Chris
Keogh to immigration and Jack Keenan and Philip Grove to injury, like last year, the
junior team saved their best performance of the year for the first round of the
championship.
Going up against a fancied Aughrim team in Tinahely, Annacurra fought for every ball
and battled hard. A goal against the run of play by Aughrim corner forward, Connor
Phelan meant the opposition led by the narrowest of margins at half time. Annacurra
rallied after the break and despite a numerical disadvantage following a dismissal of one
of Annacurra’s more potent attacking threats midway through the second half, Annacurra
led by a single point heading into injury time.
A contentious free kick awarded to Aughrim allowed their experienced veteran, Eugene
O’Brien, the chance to snatch a draw with the last kick of the match. He made no mistake and Annacura had to settle for a share of the spoils with our closests neighbour and
biggest rival.
Best for Annacurra on the day was Tom Byrne, what he lacks in size, he more than made
up for in bravery and heart. Most observers would have felt Annacurra played the better
football but were let down by a couple of missed frees in the first half of the match.
In the second group match in the championship, Annacurra faced Ashford in Arklow.
Depleted by the loss of a number of key players, Annacurra battled bravely but were
undermined by the concession of a sloppy goal in the first half. Again the team’s old
failing of missed frees came back to haunt them as they missed a series of chances to
narrow the gap.
Despite tours de force by the evergreen Martin Darcy in the second half and the
impossibly tough Michale Grove throughout the match, Annacurra were unable to close
the gap and lost by three. This ended Annacurra’s involvement in the championship as
Aughrim and Ashford advanced from the group.
A year that had promised much ended in disappointment but the future looks bright with
a number of the young players blooded by the junior team this year making an impact
with Annacurra’s senior team towards the end of the year.
The junior squad for the year was as follows:
Sean O’Neill (Captain), Michael Doyle, Shane O’Neill, Patrick O’Neill, Diarmuid
Murphy, Tom Byrne, Michael Grove, Jack O’Sullivan, Colm Maher, Nevan O’Sullivan,
James Fitzgerald, Brendan Nolan, John O’Neill, Neil Short, Martin D’arcy, Niall Henry,
Ciaran Byrne, Marcus Graham, Phillip Grove, Eugene Donegan, James Keenan, Chris
Keogh, Tom Doyle, Aaron Doyle, Jack Keenan, James Keenan, Stephen Doyle, Tom
Doyle, Robert Fitzgerald, Peter Clancy, Frank Clune.