BEWARE THE ROVERS BACKLASH
Last season ended on a strange note for Blackstone Rovers FC, when their final game was postponed at the last minute. The three points belonged to Rovers, however, and helped the Monard based outfit to finish fourth. This was a huge turnaround from the previous season, the club's debut season, when they had finished third from the foot of the table.
It was with this renewed optimism that Rovers began the season, with the title in their sights.
However, before a ball was kicked, Rovers lost the services of the influential Frances Cooney and received the bad news that centre-half Colum Kelleher would not be fit to start the season.
Blackstone were delighted to secure the services of the attacking minded defender, Tony Dunlea from Crescent. He was joined by the versatile Owen O Brien and the speedy winger Trevor O Sullivan.
Just before the start of the season, Rovers lost keeper Noel Quinn, Player of the Year Alan Coleman, defender Trevor 'The Rock' Hartnett and super striker, Colin O Leary to injuries in the space of a week. The management tried in vain to overcome these losses with Rovers going down 6-3 in their opening fixture. Pride was restored a week later with a hard fought victory against the always tough Village United.
Next up came 3 cup matches. In the AOH cup against higher ranked Hill Celtic, Rovers were unlucky to go down by the odd goal in five and in the Munster Junior Cup, Rovers put up a good fight before finally succumbing to the might of Coachford. In between these, Blackstone were disgusted to lose 5-4 to Ballinhassig after extra time in the Presidents Cup having led with 93 minutes on the clock.
The cup defeats combined with the ever increasing injuries, captain Wayne Lee and defender Tony Leahy joining the ever growing list seemed to rock Rovers who only gained 1 point from their next three league games. Following, the cup exits Rovers swooped to sign Dave O Connor, an exciting forward to supplement the strikeforce of Colin O Leary and Colm Murphy.
Since a defeat by Carrigtwohill in mid November, Rovers have won 3 and drawn 1, scoring 22 goals in the process, culminating in the earth shattering 6-1 defeat of Division 2 challengers Killeady in the Corinthians Cup. The return of some of the injury victims and well as the tounge-lashing received from the management duo has spurred the team on and teams are now beginning to feel the Rovers backlash following the slow start to the season.
Rovers began the season with 20 players, but have already lost forwards Jason O Callaghan and Alan Aherne due to injury and veteran Bernard Sheehan because of work commitments. However, with only winger George Mc Carthy to return from injury Blackstone seem to be getting it together.
Keeper Noel Quinn is protected by defenders, Tony Dunlea, Alan Coleman, Tony Leahy, Eric O Callaghan, Trevor Hartnett and the Bevan brothers, Colin and Ivan. The midfield is marshalled by captain Wayne Lee, helped by the ever reliable Karl Mc Donald, winger Trevor O Sullivan and the O' Brien brothers, Andrew and Owen.
The goals are provided by Colin O Leary(9), Dave O Connor (10) and the rejuvinated Colm Murphy(2).These troops are marshalled by Tony Bevan and Pat Goulding.
Behind the scenes, the Board is led by Chairman Ivan Bevan and consists of Vice Chairman Colum Kelleher, Hon. Secretary Wayne Lee, treasurer Eric O Callaghan, Trevor Hartnett and Jason O Callaghan. They have helped start a club Lotto Draw which is proving very successful in its early weeks. The Lotto helps supplement the costs of a season and these are met with the help of sponsers Top Tile and The Brewery Tap, to whom a lot of thanks is owed.
The team train twice a week at the Glen Resource Centre and despite the slow start, still hold strong promotion ambitions as well as looking for a long run in the Corinthians and City Challenge Cups. In the next few years, the club hope to tap into the youthful resources in the area by starting a schoolboys section, but, in the next few weeks, the likes of Temple and Dillons Cross better beware the Rovers backlash!!!!!
Showing posts with label Blackstone Rovers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blackstone Rovers. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
BLACKSTONE ROVERS NOV 2000
BLACKSTONE ROVERS-THE STORY SO FAR
Blackstone Rovers were formed in August 1999 and represents the areas of Parklands, Onslow Gardens, Fairhill, Larchfield and other surrounding areas in the Northside of the city. The players are all close friends outside club activties and this adds to the excitement that each game brings. The club was lucky enough to secure the services of a strong and experienced management team from the very beginning. The recruitment of fitness specialist Pat Goulding and Tony Bevan, who has over 30 years experience in AUL football, has greatly helped the development of the club in its infancy.
This season the club has moved to a new ground at Monard and the easy accesibility of the pitch has insured that crowds at home games often top the 50 mark. The quality of the ground and the changing facilities, as well as the loyal following, has shown in the results this season.
The team currently lies at the top of Division 3B having only lost one game this season and have strong title and promotion ambitions. "Our first season was a season of settlement in the league but the results in the last seven games of last season gave us optimism for the new campaign and this has been proved right in the early part of this campaign," said Tony Bevan, joint manager of the team, " We are a young side with a strong team spirit and I predict big things for this team."
The squad is led by captain Wayne Lee, who also managed to secure the Player of the Year accolade last season. He is joined by his brother Glenn, making up one of five sets of brothers on the team. The others are the Bevans, Ivan and Colin, the O' Callaghans, Eric and Jason, the McCarthys, Kenneth and George and the Sheehans, Bernard and Ian. New signings Francis Cooney, Colm Murphy, David Goggin, Philip O Sullivan and Tony Leahy have fitted in well with the old hands of last year, Trevor Hartnett, Alan Coleman, Andrew O Brien, Karl McDonald, keeper Noel Quinn and star striker Colin O Leary. O' Leary has continued this season in the rich vein of scoring form that helped Blackstone out of many tough situations last season and has been helped by the newly found scoring talents of Andrew O Brien, Francis Cooney and Tony Leahy. Both O Leary (twice) and Leahy were on target in the recent strong victory aginst the always tough Hill Celtic,O Brien scored twice to help Rovers to come from two down to beat the ever improving Dillons Cross and Cooney has already hit the target 4 times this term. The squad will be boosted even further with the return of long term injury victims, Colum Kelleher, Bjorn Mc Donald and Shane Gardner.
BLACKSTONE ROVERS-THE STORY SO FAR
The success on the field is mirrored by the growth of Blackstone as a club off the field. The hard working committee led by Chairman Ivan Bevan is made up of 6 players who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Vice Chairman Colum Kelleher is joined by Hon. Secretary Wayne Lee, Treasurer Eric O Callaghan, Trevor Hartnett and Jason O Callaghan. They have worked really hard over the last two years to ensure the club is known and respected in Cork football circles. They have secured training facilities for the team in Mayfield Community Centre for the winter months but, sometimes, manager Pat Goulding treats the players to a gruelling road running session which everyone seems to enjoy(not)!!!!!!!
The committee see the future of the club in the youth of the area. Blackstone hope to set plans in motion this season for the formation of schoolboys teams in the near future and hope to utilise the known youth talent in the area. " We hope to create a youth set-up similar to those at Rockmount or Leeds," says Hon. Secretary Wayne Lee, "and we know the talent is there to do this."
As for this season, Rovers have one aim and one aim only; to win the league. "Promotion would be nice but we aim to up as champions," says Vice Chairman Colum Kelleher, " and after our good start there is no reason why we cannot do this."
The board and players realise now how difficult it is to run an AUL club and are thankful to all their sponsers for their help over the last 16 months. Without the likes of Waxy's, The Brewery Tap, Top Tile and JC Sportsworld the club would not have been able to survive and will be eternally grateful.
Blackstone would also like to thank Bohemians, Churchview and Blarney United for their help as well as all the other AUL sides who have assisted them. Most importantly, Rovers would like to thank their supporters who turn up to every game and hope to be able to reward them with some silverware this year.
Blackstone Rovers were formed in August 1999 and represents the areas of Parklands, Onslow Gardens, Fairhill, Larchfield and other surrounding areas in the Northside of the city. The players are all close friends outside club activties and this adds to the excitement that each game brings. The club was lucky enough to secure the services of a strong and experienced management team from the very beginning. The recruitment of fitness specialist Pat Goulding and Tony Bevan, who has over 30 years experience in AUL football, has greatly helped the development of the club in its infancy.
This season the club has moved to a new ground at Monard and the easy accesibility of the pitch has insured that crowds at home games often top the 50 mark. The quality of the ground and the changing facilities, as well as the loyal following, has shown in the results this season.
The team currently lies at the top of Division 3B having only lost one game this season and have strong title and promotion ambitions. "Our first season was a season of settlement in the league but the results in the last seven games of last season gave us optimism for the new campaign and this has been proved right in the early part of this campaign," said Tony Bevan, joint manager of the team, " We are a young side with a strong team spirit and I predict big things for this team."
The squad is led by captain Wayne Lee, who also managed to secure the Player of the Year accolade last season. He is joined by his brother Glenn, making up one of five sets of brothers on the team. The others are the Bevans, Ivan and Colin, the O' Callaghans, Eric and Jason, the McCarthys, Kenneth and George and the Sheehans, Bernard and Ian. New signings Francis Cooney, Colm Murphy, David Goggin, Philip O Sullivan and Tony Leahy have fitted in well with the old hands of last year, Trevor Hartnett, Alan Coleman, Andrew O Brien, Karl McDonald, keeper Noel Quinn and star striker Colin O Leary. O' Leary has continued this season in the rich vein of scoring form that helped Blackstone out of many tough situations last season and has been helped by the newly found scoring talents of Andrew O Brien, Francis Cooney and Tony Leahy. Both O Leary (twice) and Leahy were on target in the recent strong victory aginst the always tough Hill Celtic,O Brien scored twice to help Rovers to come from two down to beat the ever improving Dillons Cross and Cooney has already hit the target 4 times this term. The squad will be boosted even further with the return of long term injury victims, Colum Kelleher, Bjorn Mc Donald and Shane Gardner.
BLACKSTONE ROVERS-THE STORY SO FAR
The success on the field is mirrored by the growth of Blackstone as a club off the field. The hard working committee led by Chairman Ivan Bevan is made up of 6 players who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Vice Chairman Colum Kelleher is joined by Hon. Secretary Wayne Lee, Treasurer Eric O Callaghan, Trevor Hartnett and Jason O Callaghan. They have worked really hard over the last two years to ensure the club is known and respected in Cork football circles. They have secured training facilities for the team in Mayfield Community Centre for the winter months but, sometimes, manager Pat Goulding treats the players to a gruelling road running session which everyone seems to enjoy(not)!!!!!!!
The committee see the future of the club in the youth of the area. Blackstone hope to set plans in motion this season for the formation of schoolboys teams in the near future and hope to utilise the known youth talent in the area. " We hope to create a youth set-up similar to those at Rockmount or Leeds," says Hon. Secretary Wayne Lee, "and we know the talent is there to do this."
As for this season, Rovers have one aim and one aim only; to win the league. "Promotion would be nice but we aim to up as champions," says Vice Chairman Colum Kelleher, " and after our good start there is no reason why we cannot do this."
The board and players realise now how difficult it is to run an AUL club and are thankful to all their sponsers for their help over the last 16 months. Without the likes of Waxy's, The Brewery Tap, Top Tile and JC Sportsworld the club would not have been able to survive and will be eternally grateful.
Blackstone would also like to thank Bohemians, Churchview and Blarney United for their help as well as all the other AUL sides who have assisted them. Most importantly, Rovers would like to thank their supporters who turn up to every game and hope to be able to reward them with some silverware this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
