Belmont score eight as Manager Boggan declares “The recession is over!”

Belmont 8 – Railway Union 1 (HT 3-0)
By our Financial Correspondant

Manager Liam Boggan was upbeat in his assessment of the state of Belmont’s fortunes today after a fine contest which yielded no less than 8 goals in a day of bullish trading against Railway Union at Herbert Park. “We’ve definitely bottomed out, and with this performance I think we can confidently state that we have recovered from the recession which started against St James’ Athletic”. Citing three successive matches with positive growth he said “The contraction we experienced during the St James’ match appears to have abated and the significant improvement in on-pitch activity has been maintained in this latest match session. Notwithstanding the fact that I didn’t turn up for the game, I still deserve every credit for this performance”.

As on previous match days, the weather was glorious and the Herbert Park turf in fine condition as the crowds began to pour in shortly after 10am. Belmont started with their usual 3-2-1 formation with Sheehan in goal, Boggan and Mulcahy in defence, Sherwin, Dempsy and Cuddy in midfield and Booth up front. Even Linesman Sheehan (P) looked keen and sharp as he practiced his golf swing with his flag. Belmont started well, keeping good shape in defence and midfield while probing away up front. Although feisty and powerful, their initial attempts on goal were frustrated by Railway Union who tended to pack their defence but rarely looked to attack. Belmont became more and more threatening as the first half progressed and the break came after 6 minutes when Mulcahy, in one of many forays out of defence, latched onto a poor Union clearance and slammed home from the edge of the box. One might have expected Union’s cover to crumble at this stage, but it took another 12 minutes and the introduction of McNulty and Cloonan into the game before a deft pass from Sherwin found Cuddy unmarked and ready to strike home. Mulcahy added another on 20 minutes to give Belmont a comfortable 3 -0 lead at half time and it was a relaxed pair of managers, Lisa Cuddy and Mulcahy (H) who gave the confidential half-time briefing to the team. Even the onlooking Garda performing crowd control duties on his mountain bike looked pleased with Belmont’s performance.

Sheehan had little to do in goal in the first half, but he came flying into action in midfield and attack as the second period began. The team were passing like seasoned professionals and Boggan opened the second half scoring on 24 minutes with a cracking strike before Sheehan grabbed a couple of beauties on 26 and 32 minutes with Booth striking home in between on 29 minutes. Union deservedly got on the score sheet with 6 minutes to go after a speculative route one ball found their lone attacker unmarked, and his potent shot gave Sherwin no chance to save. It was left to Cuddy to complete the scoring on 36 minutes after impressive midfield play and assists by McNulty, Cloonan and Dempsey. An agreeable morning’s work indeed. The back to back wins are impressive, but perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the match was the way the team passed and supported each other both in attack and defence. The squad is certainly gelling well despite the managers and one can hope for further improvement as the season progresses and the team is strengthened by Fahy’s return.

Interviewed afterwards by phone, Minister (surely Manager? Ed.) Boggan stated “As late as last week I was contemplating setting up a special agency, the Naïve and Apathetic Managers Association (NAMA), to bail us out of this footballing crisis, but it is now clear that my expansionary macromanagement policies have resulted in a sustained recovery without any outside assistance. My policies may be unpopular and may even seem ludicrous to some, but the upward goalscoring trend is there for all to see and I think it reinforces the mandate given to me and Mulcahy to lead this team into 2010. Overall, I feel completely vindicated in cycling to Wexford rather than watching my team play”. Manager Mulcahy was unavailable for comment.

The Famous Five: A stirring football story by your special correspondent, Enid Blyton

Granada 0 – Belmont 5 (HT 0-2)

Forget Julian, Dick, Georgina, Anne and Timmy the dog. This was a five goal adventure with Conor, Marcus, Jack and Brian scoring the goals, but with a first class cast in defence and midfield that laid the platform for the glory-boys to shine. Such was the quality on the pitch that even the managers (played by Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny) emerged from the match without too much ignominy. But as in all good adventure stories, there were many puzzles to be solved before the final chapter saw our heroes emerge victorious. Where had Brian Cuddy disappeared to? Who was that mysterious boy in a number 3 yellow Belmont jersey and what was the source of that strange loud ticking noise in the Belmont kitbag?

“Brian Cuddy missing? That’s strange” you say with fear and awe. Missing indeed as the Belmont team took the pitch with a 2-3-1 starting lineup as published but with Jack Fahy, Belmont’s latest signing in the number 3 shirt, replacing Cuddy who appeared to have either vanished or not arrived at all! This mystery was soon solved when Cuddy’s parents arrived breathless and apologetic but very, very late! A disciplinary hearing has been set for Tuesday afternoon in the ruined castle on Kirin Island to hear the Cuddy’s official excuse, but you can expect sentencing to be severe.

From the kick-off it was clear that Belmont were in attack mode with Fahy, the lone striker, frequently joined by McNulty, Booth and Cloonan from midfield. This midfield has both flair and pace and Belmont might have scored as early as the second minute but for some fine Granada defence and a couple of wayward final touches. Such was Belmont’s dominance in the opening chapter that Boggan had little or nothing to do in goal while Mulcahy and Sheehan often found themselves pushing up to the half way line to support what appeared to be four strikers up front. It was only a matter of time before the opener came, and less than a minute after Cuddy and Dempsey arrived on the pitch it duly happened. A couple of fine touches in midfield saw the ball reach Booth in space and a neat turn and flick of the ball found it in the back of the Granada net in the 12th minute. Worse was to come for Granada as concerted Belmont pressure led to a mix up in the Granada defence and an unfortunate own goal four minutes later. It was therefore a relaxed Belmont team that sat down to a half time picnic of lettuce, organic egg and country ham sandwiches, home-made strawberry pie with clotted cream and lashings of ginger pop!

Notwithstanding the half time feast, there was much muttering from disgruntled supporters as a dramatically changed team emerged for the second half. It was now Mulcahy in goal, Dempsey a lone defender, McNulty, Cuddy and Sheehan in midfield and Fahy and Boggan in attack. Why, oh why, do managers feel the need to tinker so much with winning teams? Indeed, if there are any villains in this yarn, it is surely the Belmont managers who changed the standard setup to a 1-3-2 without so much as consulting the players, parents or even supporters. But enough backbiting, lets return to the game.

As in the first half, the Belmont goalkeeper and defence had little to occupy their time and all the action was to be found in the Granada half. A neat through ball in the 24th minute allowed Boggan to rifle home from 15 metres while a wonderful jinking run and shot from Fahy shortly afterwards sent the Granada keeper the wrong way for Belmont’s fourth. Finally, the famous five was achieved after a fine Cuddy strike in the 37th minute left Granada’s defence stranded and the Belmont players ecstatic. This well taken goal has clearly freed Cuddy junior from any further disciplinary action next week and one can expect that the full brunt of the punishment will be taken by his tardy and errant parents.

And at the final whistle, the opposition dispatched, Belmont managers conceited and smug, supporters happy and players contented with a job well done. There was much laughter and merriment, before a little voice piped up “But what IS that strange loud ticking coming from Manager Boggans kitbag?” “Ha! Ha! Ha!” chuckled Boggan “That’s only my battery driven stock-brokers ticker tape machine telling me that the Irish stock market has plummeted another 20%!”. How we all laughed! Even Timmy the dog wagged his tail in delight! Goodbye Belmont soccer team. Goodbye arrogant managers. Goodbye loyal supporters.

Honours even as Belmont fight back against Wayside Celtic

Belmont 2 - Wayside Celtic 2 (HT 0-2)
Saturday 13th September and the second match of the season for Belmont’s under 8 Major league team. Following on from their 9-1 drubbing the previous weekend, Messers Boggan, Booth, Cloonan, Cuddy, Dempsey, McNulty, Mulcahy, Sheehan and Sherwin knew that they would have to improve if they were not to receive a tongue lashing, and a probable pay cut, from their managers. Their opponents, Wayside Celtic, are recognised as fierce and feisty competitors, but Belmont were buoyed up by having their full squad available for the first time this season, the remainder of the team having returned from injury, holidays, suspension or detention.

The match was played in perfect conditions, warm September sun beaming down on Herbert Park, ground firm, crowd expectant. Belmont started with a 2-3-1 formation, indicating the apparent naivety of their management team. Not a good idea against the 1-3-2 of Celtic who took a deserved 1-0 lead folowing a speculative shot on goal within five minutes of kickoff. Belmont were playing well enough, with McNulty finding her range on more than one occasion, Booth and Mulcahy active in both attack and defence, Sherwin controlling his midfield with ease, Boggan and Cuddy clearing heroically and Cloonan making some fine saves to deny a second goal. But Celtic were dominant in the early exchanges and would not be denied for long. This correspondent has been reporting on under 8 matches for many years now, but rarely has he seen a set of managers with so little tactical insight. One might imagine that the first goal would have caused food for thought, but no – more of the same setup was the name of the game, resulting in a second goal for Celtic within 15 minutes. Suddenly, Belmont were tiring and couldn’t wait for the half time whistle, although the introduction of Dempsey and Sheehan steadied them wonderfully as time went on

It was clear that defeat was inevitable if Belmont didn’t change their setup at halftime. Experimentation or decimation! Now it was Cuddy in goal, McNulty in midfield and Dempsey in attack. And with further changes seeing Boggan lead the charge from attack the tide was turning, Celtic creaking under pressure until a fine 30 metre first time shot from Boggan found the back of the Celtic net. Celtic 2, Belmont 1. But was this too little too late for this young and unsettled Belmont team? One would have thought yes, but this team clearly never contemplated defeat on the day, and hard work from all 9 players, with slow patient build-ups put even further pressure on Celtic. One could see the Celtic fans looking apprehensively at their watches, their players uncertain and their manager nervously biting his nails. And then, their worst fears confirmed as Boggan slammed a second from 15 metres to level at 2 all. Suddenly, Belmont were rampant, and it was a thankful Celtic team that heard the final whistle blow to end the match. As team manager Liam Boggan said in interview afterwards “By golly, we gave those boys one hell of a beating in the second half”. Hugh Mulcahy added further “Granada this Saturday? Bring ‘em on”.

Belmont U8 Major League Soccer

A Nice bunch of good kids and enthusiastic parents , the squad that is the Belmont Under 8 major league panel arrived in the grounds of CUS on Bird avenue to face St. James in the opening match of the year.

The Squad

Marcus Boggan
John Mulcahy
Brian Cuddy
Fiona McNulty
Cathal Dempsey
Luke Sheehan
Mark Cloonan
Conor Booth
Patrick Sherwin

The excitement of the kids was palpable and we had the official divvying out of the gear... followed by repeated attempts to get their attention for long enough to tell them that the objectives for the year is to have some fun , and that includes the parents..., enjoy themselves and to hopefully win more matches than we lose...

This team will be managed jointly by Hugh Mulcahy and myself , we share the same philosophy that the aim here is to have fun and for the kids to express themselves.

Just before our match began , I got to hear the Granada manager lecturing the parents of his charges about the effort he was going to put in and how he would put todays performance behind him.....Neither Hugh nor myself ever intend to do this , this is a competitive league and we all enjoy the thrill of wining more than losing.

We are playing in the Major League which should give us an advantage as our team is of equal ability compared to the other tean but we are playing in a theoretically lower league.

Our goal is to give everyone decent amounts of pitch time every week and to rotate through goalkeepers over the next few weeks.I suppose it will become clear over the next few weeks , what is exactly the real potential of our team and hopefully we will see dramatic improvements in the kids own positional awareness when the formal coaching starts this wednesday.

The game vs St. James was very much a game of two halves...We lost the first half 7 to nil and but dramatically improved with the benefit of a rest and some positional changes so lost the second half by 2 goals to one.

Our team in the first half ran around like an exhuberant swarm of yellow clad bees and in some cases tackled each other for the ball. Cathal Dempsey, who had bravely volunteered to be the goalie found himself against a very well coached and much better prepared St.James team who looked like they have been training for a few weeks now and certainly their striker was the biggest kid on the pitch by far so the contest of trying to stop his shots was a bit one sided.Our defense and mid field found themselves run ragged as St.James were more used to the large size of the pitch and we found ourselves getting in each others way as much as anything else.The mid fielders of Luke Sheehan and Kevin Johnston did their best to help the defence but our lack of practice was evident and exploited by the slightly better organised opposition and we certainly found ourselves lacking in confidence when faced with the daunting task of running up the pitch in the direction of their goal.

In the second half , we found our composure , Conor Booth took over Goalkeeping duties and with the benefit of the wind and a better organised defence managed to pull off a few great saves.Marcus Boggan and Mark Cloonan stuck to their task in defence in the second half , Marcus deonstrated that he has a big boot and well capable of delivering the ball up field from kickouts. Brian Cuddy was a stalwart in mid field making some great runs forward as he had done in the first half. We introduced Patrick Sherwin who made an immediate impact with his speed and ball skills. Fiona McNulty proved herself to be a very capable and determined player and fought for every ball. Cathal Dempsy , relieved of the pressure of being in goal made a nice few tackles when it counted.

The highlight of the game ocurred the moment the diminutive Fiona McNulty beat the St.James Defence and struck the ball into the back of the net. Cue much cheering from the assembled parents ...Fiona may be small , but her contribution was immense and in the post match analysis , being the first of our team to score a goal earned her the title of 'Man of the Match'

Training on Wednesday should help the kids grow in confidence and we look forward to the next match confident that we have the makings of a decent team. It is only a matter of finding each players strengths from here.

Fixtures published in the Evening Herald every Monday , and on the http://www.sdflsoccer.com/ website on Wednesday or Thursday.

Costs for the year being assessed now , depends on the amount cost of the coaching and number of matcches where we have to pay the referee , treats for the kids...and a fee of Eur 50 for registration with the club per player.

Should come to Eur200 per player. Will confirm....

Liam/ Hugh