Belmont Vs Cabinteely : Saturday 17th April

Venue : Kilbogget Park

Warm up : 09:50 am


Starting team : Belmont vs Cabinteely
Venue : Kilbogget Park
Meet : 09:50 there for warm up.

The Starting Team

Goal Keeper : Mark Cloonan

Defenders : Luke Sheehan , Marcus Boggan

Midfield : Brian Cuddy , John Mulcahy , Patrick sherwin

Striker : Jack Fahey

Initial Subs :

Cathal Dempsey
Conor Booth
Paul Kinney
Tom Simms

Unavailable : Fiona Mc Nulty

Getting there :


Donnybrook Rd/N11 Continue to follow N11 11.0 km
Take the exit toward (Flyover ) Cherrywood 0.2 km
Turn left at R118/Wyattville Rd 0.8 km
Take the 2nd left onto Churchview Rd 0.9 km
Churchview Rd , carry on beyond Tesco , and it is on the left.

Belmont vs Granada ( Cup match ) Belmont cruise to Semi Final of Major League Cup

The Belmont Under 8 team has had some unfinished business in the Major League cup. The cup had been suspended due to the poor weather. It looked like it was going to be abandoned but much to the pleasure of the Belmont team and management our fixture against Granada D was scheduled for play on what turned out to be one of the most pleasant evenings of the year so far.

With the return to action of the full squad and the inclusion in the team of our latest acquisition Paul Kinney , Belmont took to the park.

The referee Paddy Brennan made the suggestion that as Granada and Belmont had full squads that the match could be played as eight a side rather than seven a side.

This was somewhat disconcerting suggestion as Belmont have been crowding each other off the ball so probably needed less rather than more players on the pitch.

Conor Booth has served his time in Goal over the past few trying weeks. Conor has been a fantastic servant for the team in goal in important matches with a natural talent in abundance for this position. Belmont have relied on his bravery and skill in the Goalkeeping department but for this match he was offered his chance in the role of midfielder alongside John Mulcahy and Brian Cuddy. Marcus Boggan and Jack Fahey were paired together in attack for the first time and Luke Sheehan and Mark Cloonan in their familiar role in defence and Patrick Sherwin taking over as Goal keeper.

Belmont are familiar with this particular Granada team and had beaten them before but given the recent run of form it was nerve wracking to watch the initial few minutes.

Any neutral observer would take less than two minutes to spot the real recent weakness inthe Belmont strategy. Belmont midfield have a tendency to fall back and cluster around their own goal mouth and this is all it takes to draw in attacks from any team. This match started no differently with Belmont starting tentatively. It was hard to watch the initial few minutes as Yellow shirted players could be seen tackling each other and getting into each others way.

Indeed all it took was a Granada hoof of the ball into the Belmont box to immediately draw the midfield of Conor, John and Brian and Jack back on top of Luke and Mark. The six Belmont players chasing the ball in their own box ensured sufficient confusion to create a scoring chance for Granada and totally unnecessary pressure.

Likewise when the Ball came out of defence , it was a real struggle to get the ball up towards the Granada goal. Belmont rather than kick the ball up the pitch to the front men ran at the massed Granada midfield and Defence trying to run around them. The Belmont midfield may have some good players but Lionel Messi's they are not , so simple kick away tackles from Granada were sufficient to thwart the effort to advance up the pitch.

Eventually Jack Fahey lobbed the Granada Goal keeper to break the deadlock. This was followed by a goal from Patrick Sherwin and in the second half by newcomer Paul Keeley announcing his presence on the team with a fine goal.

The second half saw the return of some composure with players getting in each others way less and less and the defensive duo of luke and Mark enjoying not being clustered and were well able to deal with Granada.

Brian Cuddy who is without doubt the most improved player on the team went into goal in the second half for a well earned rest and he was not troubled by any shots.

Patrick Sherwin made a significant contribution in midfield when he came on and with the team regaining composure the Balmont management were finally able to relax and make multiple substitutions and give everyone ample pitch time and have some fun.

Fiona McNulty made some jinking runs and fine tackles and passes as she made her presence felt. Marcus Boggan was rested after some stellar work and strong clearances. Jack Fahey came ashore happy that he would not be needed in the dying moments of the game as he had made his contribution. Cathal who had played in attack this time was unlucky that he was not being able to position himself to make contact with one particular cross that looked like an absolute sitter and would have brought Cathal his second goal of the season.

All in all a much more relaxing evening in the sunshine with much to smile about.

Getting to the Semi final stages of the Cup brings up the possibility of yet another clash with St. James though we may need to win our semi final to get to that mouth watering re-match.

Again the lessons are clear for players and management alike. This Belmont team has capability, built on a solid defence. There is a particular formation in Midfield which is effective and the team has the potential when units work together to unleash a potent attack with key players being held in reserve to come on as impact players and add fresh legs when the opportunity arises.

Bring on next weekend !! And back up to Division 3 to face Cabinteely away in Kilbogget Park.

Belmont vs Dalkey...tough day at the office (Loss 5- 1 )

Lets just say....another disappointing day at the office ....

The Dalkey team were well drilled and the Belmont team management failed to communicate simple objectives to the team which meant that Dalkey won the ball all too easily time and time again.

Belmont had to rustle up some new faces which in fairness made the task of integrating them into the team difficult. Paul , James and Tom all joined Belont for the day .

Belmnt started the match in a new formation with Conor in Goal , Luke and Tom in Defence , John and Cathal and Brian in Midfield and Marcus as a striker. We were missing Patrick and Jack and Mark. We kept Fiona and James in reserve.

Dalkey were well drilled and Belmont with new players were caught out by a skilful Dalkey side who managed to get goalside of the Belmont Defence and then caught out the fresh Belmont Pairing in Defence on five occasions.

It was another day for the Belmont management to rue their strategic mistakes. Marcus had to come back into midfield to close the gaps that Dalkey were taking advantage of in midfield and the uncertainty in defence drew our whole team into a morass of confusion with multiple Belmont players running aimlessly around our own box with no point man to clear the ball out to.

Once Dalkey had succeeded in drawing the entire Belmont team into defence it was simple task for them to continue to live around our goal mouth and take their chances well.

Belmont had a few bright moments during the match culminating in a fine lob from John Mulcahy which gave Belmont our only goal during the morning.

The lessons for management ? Many... from positional awareness to tactical use of substitutions.

'Nuff Said

St.James Avenge their last defeat with 4- 1 win as Red Mist de-rails Belmont Machine

After a prolonged break from competitive football the Belmont under 8A's made their way to St.James ground on Bird avenue delighted to have been offered the opportunity to play their designated fixture at all given their home ground was once again declared unplayable after the rain on Thursday evening.

Looking back of course, that may have been a hasty decision as Belmont found a St.James team still smarting from their defeat at the hands of Belmont a few months ago. Oh Belmont were smug then....

St.James had caught Belmont unprepared in september and had easily won the first encounter of the season. The return match in Herbert park had been an altogether different affair with Belmont narrowly conceding a draw. Belmont got their reward in February when the Mulcahy family finally came to one of these games and Belmont beat their fiercest local opposition 3 2 in what was another epic encounter.

Belmont should have known something was up on friday evening when the St.James manager contacted them to offer the chance to play the match at their ground. The St.James manager James Greally was way ahead of the Belmont managerial duo who should have read the signals more clearly. It was naiive of them to not have realised that when the opposition manager found out before them that Herbert park was unplayable and managed to secure a referee and a pitch that his team were up for and prepared for a real game.

It was however all smiles as the Hugh Mulcahy drew the Belmont team into formation for their pre match photo. Belmont relied on their tried and trusted starting formation against St.James. Conor Booth in Goal to inspire confidence , Luke Sheehan and Mark Cloonan in defence , Marcus Boggan , John Mulcahy and Brian Cuddy in midfield and Cathal Dempsey as the lone striker with Patrick Sherwin and Jack Fahey held back in reserve for the kick off.

In the pre match warm up, Boggan and Mulcahy spoke of teamwork and effort and passing and communciation. They spoke of everyone needing to be aware of where their team mates were on the pitch and to work with each other. The warm up drills were relaxed but concentrated on passing and talking to each other. They also spoke to the players individually and told them that each match was effectively a trial and that all players need to earn the right to their pitch time as everyone is needed to make a contribution when ever they are on the pitch.

It was apparent however right from the kick off that this was not going to be all one way traffic for Belmont with the first encounters of the match all going the way of St.James and Belmont looking rusty and surprisingly ill at ease. Sheehan and Cloonan were stretched repeatedly with Conor Booth in continuous action and Belmont conceding a series of corners which had to be defended vigorously. This brought the midfield back to defence and made it easy for St.James to keep attacking. On and on it went with Belmont making successful saves and stoppages and the occasional clearance upfield.

Cathal Dempsey looked bright in attack as he weaved around the St.James box and kept the St.James goalkeeper busy. Unfortunately for Cathal the game was being played out in the Belmont goal mouth and so he never had the chance to demonstrate his skills. The tactical appreciation of St.James was far ahead of Belmont on the field and it did not take much time before St.James realised that the lone Belmont striker was completely isolated and out of range of the rest of his team so they threw their defence forward to join in the attack leaving the Belmont striker and their own goal keeper as mere spectators at the other end of the pitch.

Belmont had a moment when it looked like the tide might turn when Sheehan tackled , passed to Cloonan who managed to get the ball to cuddy and he in turn managed to get the ball to Boggan who was steaming down the sidelines. Dempsey waited his chance , Boggan crossed the ball in and as Dempsey cued himself up for the shot the referee blew the whistle as John Mulcahy was brought down in the St.James box.

Mulcahy has twice been awarded penalties this season but on both occasions the management team were unaware that the pain associated with the tackle was so great that the poor lad was unable to drive the ball home with the precision that would be expected. Sure enough John Mulcahy had to be hauled ashore to receive some medical attention before re-joining the fray.

Today though was a story about Belmont playing with the same kind of passion and coherence that the Irish rugby team brought with them to Croke Park for the match against Scotland , indeed there was also more than a passing resemblance to that of the Fine Gael party as an effective opposition last saturday.

It was not long though before the Belmont tactics of relying on a five man defence with a solitary stranded attacker was exposed properly. Once again St.James decided to take their chances and leave the Belmont striker unattended and again threw their defence forward. They were rewarded by a well taken goal that beat the brave Conor Booth who made a spectacular dive but the power of the shot was just too much.

Soon after it was the turn of the St.James Striker to be denied his penalty attempt as Conor Booth bravely stood up to his full height and intimidated the St.James striker into kicking the ball straight at him. The smiles of smug satisfaction from the Belmont crowds soon froze though as another communication breakdown in the Belmont ranks saw the St.James strike force was once again rewarded for their tenacity and Belmont found themselves two goals down.

Mutt and Jeff, the Belmont Managers decided to make some changes , relieving the pressure on Dempsey who had made some sprightly runs around the St.James box and brought on Jack Fahy as striker with Patrick sherwin coming on the replace Brian Cuddy who was shattered after working courageously to try and contain the St.James team who were clearly more focussed.

Half time brought some respite and Manager Boggan was heared pleading with his charges as he tried to both hide his frustration and to inspire confidence and assurance to the Belmont team who looked about as sharp as a rusty nail.

The second half began the way of the first with the only change being Conor Booth coming out of goal and Brian Cuddy assuming goal keeping duties. St.James dominated possession again though despite some fine runs and ferocious tackling by Conor who put his unlucky period in goal behind him and was full of running. The Belmont players however grew more and more tired and frustrated and the decibel level from the Belmont management team rose ever higher as tackle after tacke was missed and players in Yellow jerseys began to remonstrate uncharacteristically with each other.

This was not what the crowds had gotten out of bed for...

Suddenly it seemed if the Belmont managers had indeed been inspired, throwing Boggan forward had in the past proved a successful tactic so it was tried again with Fahy coming back into midfield. They had a lucky break though when Fahey attempted to pass the ball to Boggan but the pass went awry. Somehow Boggan missed his attempt to volley the ball the miss distracted the defence and suddenly the ball was in the back of the net. St.James 2 and Belmont 1, now there was a chance of a game here..redemption loomed and heads which had been bowed suddenly lifted .

Belmont relief was however short lived. A long threaded pass from the St.James midfield was watched by the yellow clad men who all looked at the ball and waited and waited and waited for someone else to retrieve it ... it seemed like an eternity as the ball trundled slowly between a group of Belmont players , all of whom were calling out to someone else to get it...and no one moving towards it themselves. Finally the ball was collected by the fast running St.James midfield who could not believe that the Belmont team had turned on itself and so the delivery of the St.James third goal was painless and left poor Brian Cuddy with no chance so the two goal deficit was re-established quickly.

The Belmont Management team, looking haggard and stressed decided that it was now approprate to make further desperate and ill conceived changes to the formation, this time pairing Cathal Dempsey with John Mulcahy in Defence for the first time and switching Jack with Patrick Sherwin coming on to give Jack a well earned rest.

These changes marked the begining of the final phase of the game where the communication between the players on the pitch dissolved completely with harranguing of the managers from both the defensive and attacking ends of the pitch and mutterings of disquiet and discontent from the assembled supporters.

At this point St.James won the ball after a tussle in mid field and the assembled Belmont supporters were treated to an exhibition by St.James as the Belmont experimental defence of Mulcahy and Dempsey was beaten so easily that this experiment clearly wont be repeated. Dempsey did manage to give the St.James striker a run for his money but could not get in position to block the shot. Only Cuddy with the heroic save of the day pushed the shot over the Bar. The ensuing corner kick was scrambled clear but the St.James again won the ball and ran freely past the Belmont defence to drive home their advantage and score their fourth goal.

Suddenly without warning on this fine spring like morning a red mist appeared to drift down out of the clouds and swirled around affecting both the management team and some of their related players...John Mulcahy was first to be affected by the virus and found it all too much John had decided that he really was in charge and had a better plan for the team and he had his views on the hopeless tactics being employed. This inspired move on his part led to him being invited off the pitch so that he could continue to deliver his views from the comfort of the touchline.

Two minutes to go and Marcus Boggan decided that he too had had enough of being urged on and harranged by the same hapless management team and he too decided that it was time to forcefully express his opinions. Marcus was also invited to join John on touchline where he was able to continue offering his views to all and sundry as the red mist virus threatened to envelope more of the supporters and players.

The final whistle was a relief , the end of a 40 minute nightmare. Brian Cuddy was the star of the show today with his good natured smile and his consistent work rate marking him out as the obvious man of the match.

Belmont will reflect on this for a while. Definitely not their finest hour...there will be other days and other matches but St.James is the Derby game and this week Belmont looked like they were out of their depth at this level. It is only a game ...and all that....better to play than not....

Word is that the Belmont management team have been engaged in long disscussions over the weekend in the aftermath of the game. A source close to the duo who did not want to be identified said that the management team are concerned that the team appear to have reached something of a cross roads. A lovely bunch of kids and supportive parents and have had some good fun thus far but the question is where to next.

To a neutral oberver , this team has a group of players who are effectively self selecting as the first choice defensive unit, the first choice Goal keeper and some others who have demonstrated some skills in that area. Most observers also know which combination of kids is most likely to score and make the tackles. The Management team have been struggling with ideas for the kids who having been tried in various positions but which have yet to find their natural niche where they can make a strong positive contribution to the development of this team.

Looking at it objectively , Belmont probably do need to find another player or two to give more strength in depth to the squad and to help continue the development of the team. The addition of one or two select players would mean that Belmont could rest more players during matches without being exposed to injury or an illness or a players absence. The choice is to adjust expectations to mid table mediocrity and just turn up week in week out or try to be as competitive as possible which would mean being slightly more ruthless with regard to team selection while ensuring that every week all the kids get some pitch time.

This observer thinks the managers have a competitive instinct which suggests that the just showing up every week option is less appealing to them than the competitive one. However one thing for sure , we all know that neither of them know anything about soccer being Jesuit boys and neither of them can even be trusted with the flag by a soccer referee as they both point the flag rugby fashion in the wrong direction. The reality is that this management team, bereft of original ideas , and having been filleted by the tactical nous of St.James probably should be relieved of their roles as soon as possible.

Vote now....and feedback to belmontsoccer@gmail.com. The management team were overheard suggesting that they are available for consultation over a pint with anyone who has a view either way.

"La Vengeance Est Un Plat Qui Se Mange Froid"

St James’ Sportif au-dessous de Huit 2 - Belmont Club du Football au-dessous de Huit 3 (HT 0-1)

Photographs courtesy of H Mulcahy (L Boggan's turn next time)

Linesman: H Mulcahy (L Boggan's turn next time) “Revenge is a dish best served cold”. Les liaisons dangereuses? Mathilde? An old Pashtun or even a Sicilian quote? It’s source remains confused and shrouded in mystery. However, the origin of Belmont’s victory away to St James’ Athletic yesterday can be clearly traced to the 5th September 2009, 155 days ago. On that day, against the same team and on the same football pitch, Belmont suffered their first and only defeat since their formation, but what a defeat it was! A nine goal to one nightmare to start their campaign and one that few would choose to remember, except perhaps Fiona McNulty who scored a cracking goal in the second half to allow Belmont to limp away with some honour. One month later and a return match in Herbert Park saw a more confident and composed Belmont Draw 2-2 but leave St James’ with the bragging rights away from home. Then on to 6th February 2010 and the question of whether the undoubted progression of the Belmont team would allow them to eclipse their rivals, and do it away from home. Ultimately Belmont served their dish of revenge, but only after a nail-biting forty-minute drama in which the plate was passed back and forward several times. Ah, pure theatre, even including comic relief in the form of hapless Directors Boggan and Mulcahy and their own slapstick brand of football management “A la Laurel and Hardy”.
The match was played on a wet and greasy surface but on a calm and warm February morning. The referee began by checking the studs of all players and all passed muster except for McNulty’s, but only the studs in her ears! Bravely, she allowed her dad to remove them so that she could take part in the match and it was as well that she did, since all were required to play their part to ensure victory. The “Two Ronnies” started with their usual shape with Booth in goal, Sheehan and Cloonan in defence, Cuddy, Mulcahy and Boggan in midfield and Dempsey in attack. Opening exchanges were coy and St James’ probably had the best of the initial play with some excellent passing manoeuvres from midfield to attack. It’s impossible to overestimate the calming effect of Cloonan and Sheehan in defence but, with an aggressive St James’ attack formation, even these two needed help from their midfield colleagues Boggan, Mulcahy and Cuddy who tracked back almost seamlessly to prevent St James’ gaining a decisive opener. Booth was playing the game of his life in goal and prevented several fine efforts from reaching the net with acrobatic diving saves and safe hands. However, the game slowly began to turn and, after initially soaking up some serious pressure, Belmont began to counter well with initial forays up the pitch to Dempsey who was busy keeping the St James’ defence on their toes. Several times he made space and broke away but, on each occasion, the goalkeeper either parried the ball or made excellent diving saves. Indeed, the game became increasingly edgy with neither team willing to give away a vital goal until a fine Belmont move culminated in a deft pass to Cuddy who slotted home from short range on 10 minutes. This was never going to be a high scoring game, so all contributions were gratefully accepted. The game continued to ebb and flow throughout the half with the introduction of Sherwin and Fahy but, despite their fresh legs and undoubted skills, neither team could gain any decisive advantage in any part of the field and the half ended without further scoring. It was at this stage that football’s equivalent of Morecambe and Wise really cranked up the comedy by totally disrupting the pattern of the team and switching players from one position to another apparently at random. Indeed, one well respected Belmont parent was seen to nudge her neighbour and say “..if they were at Manchester United, they’d probably play Rooney at left back and van der Sar in centre midfield”. Despite the managers, the Belmont players got on with the game and actually scored a second when a through ball in the 24th minute found Boggan centre stage where he whipped a shot past the St James’ goalie to make it 2-0. Even then, the game was far from secure and St James’ further upped the tempo and scored on 32 minutes after some frenzied attacking. At the other end, McNulty was a constant threat and harried the James’ defence, never allowing them to push up and join their partners in attack for fear of a breakaway goal. In the end, Belmont did score that goal courtesy of Fahy who slammed the ball home from 10 metres to apparently make the game safe. In a final twist to the tale, St James scored a second on 39 minutes to leave Belmont hanging on by a thread. As the final curtain descended, a happy and relieved set of Belmont players and fans relaxed in the knowledge that they had seen off their nemesis – at least for the moment! In a post match interview, manager Mulcahy said “yes, our team did play well and I'm particularly delighted for my co-manager who has finally experienced a win over St James’ Athletic. It’s interesting that I was away for both previous matches when he was unsuccessful, but was present on the only occasion that we actually managed to win. I wouldn’t want anyone to read too much into this fact, but it is nevertheless curious…” When informed of Manager Mulcahy’s comments, Manager Boggan retorted “Just who does he think he is, Bill Shankley? I only employ him to look after the post match chocolate bars, and he can’t even arrange those properly. Imagine buying a selection of different sweets so that the players argue about who gets the Mars bars!” He thinks it "curious", does he, Ha! Curious George would be a more competent co-manager!”

“Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose”, at least as far as the ludicrous management of this wonderful and ever improving under 8 team goes!

Narrow win for Belmont on a cold and frosty morning

Belmont 2 – Granada 1 (HT 2-0)
Photographs courtesy of Liam Mulcahy
Two cracking goals within four minutes late in the first half were enough to grab the points today and stretch Belmont’s unbeaten run to ten. Played on a cold tough pitch by cold tough under 8 players, Belmont showed courage under pressure to win against a Granada team bursting with talent and pace. So, no clichés there anyway.
Belmont started brightly enough with their usual 2-3-1 setup including Sherwin in goal, Sheehan and Cloonan in defence, Booth, Mulcahy and Fahy in midfield and Boggan in attack. Despite a lack of match practice, they made the early running with some neat passing from defence to attack via a strong midfield. Fahy’s passing game, especially, has come on greatly over the past two games and he made his Granada opponents dizzy at times with his classy dribbling and ace flicks. The Belmont players had as many as six shots on goal in as many minutes, but the final touch eluded them on each occasion before Fahy finally shot in from five meters. Less than four minutes later, a through ball from Mulcahy found Cuddy in space inside the six yard box. You won’t find this Belmont legend showboating or busting out crazy tricks, but his classy control, turn and snapshot into the top right corner of the net was typical of this awesome athlete. Sherwin had little to do in goal, but what he did he did well. Cloonan and Sheehan were defensive rocks as usual while Boggan’s work rate was breath-taking and he was unlucky not to score at least once in the first half. Mulcahy, also, was a powerhouse in midfield, tackling like a demon and apparently tricking past defenders at will. Overall, this was a team playing as well as they possibly could on a frosty, frozen pitch against tough opposition. Shortly before half time, McNulty came on in attack. Her silky skills at beating defenders were wicked and she, too, was unlucky on a number of occasions in front of goal. Two nil to Belmont at half-time, but with some tired legs and sore knees out there. The start of the second half saw Dempsey come on to freshen up the attack as a roaming striker as Sheehan retired to goal with Sherwin coming into left midfield. Booth was working wonders down the right and he regularly destroyed the Granada midfield with his jinking runs and passing skills. Dempsey was also working hard up front but with no goal to reward him for his fine efforts. Time and time again the Belmont midfield struck at the Granada defence, but on each occasion a flailing Granada boot cleared the danger. Then a sucker punch as the Belmont managers urged their team ever forward leaving their defence undermanned. A breakaway strike from Granada found one of their midfield men unmarked and a quick run followed by a powerful shot left the game wide open at two one to Belmont. This correspondent can only say that it’s fortunate for Gaffers Mulcahy and Boggan that they still have day jobs since they continue to show a mind-numbing lack of inventiveness or intelligence on the sideline. Rafael Benitez needn’t worry about either of these two blockheads supplanting him any time soon! The last two minutes of the match were tense, but Belmont held their shape well to run out as deserved winners. Manager Boggan said afterwards “I know it seems like stating the obvious to say that we are in a different league, but the step up in opposition quality is noticeable and we are having to work very hard to come away with results. I’m proud of our whole team and it’s clear that our squad system is beginning to function well. However, I’m conscious that this is a work in progress and that we need to continually reassess our tactics. It’s important that we achieve our true potential as a team while also giving our players the opportunity to shine as individuals. This will require a complex balancing act, but that’s our task.” Manager Mulcahy later said “I wish that the lads would start winning by four and five goals again. My ticker can’t take many more of these tight games!”

Sheehan shines in 1-1 draw with Beechwood

Beechwood 1-Belmont 1 (HT 0-0)
Photographs courtesy of Mulcahy H
A cricket ground but not a cricket score as the newly promoted Belmont A and took on Beechwood in a pulsating match with end to end action. The long break due to the appalling weather had taken its toll on the kids who battled heroically, though at times Belmont looked unfit and lacking in assured confidence. The standard of play was of a level that we had seen in our previous most competitive encounters and so this new league brings a step up in the challenge. At this stage there are players who have established themselves as the natural choices for certain positions and others who have developed a long way but have more to do. The timing of our matches this year will continue to present challenges for the team members who combine activities and this was apparent at the weekend with tiredness apparent very quickly. We have the nucleus of a very strong team and one which can be very competitive in this higher division. The key from here will be to bring on all the players confidence and skills up to a new level.The whistle blew on the new season took on a very cold dull and dank day against a well drilled and able opposition. Beechwood may, on previous form , be one of the toughest opponents that we have to face as they were runners up in Division 3 pre Christmas. Some of our other new oppostion have dropped down from Division 1 and Division 2.

Belmont started well. Playing uphill in a cricket ground came as somewhat a surprise but there you go! The first half was evenly balanced with both teams stringing together meaningful attacks and defending well. The battle was marginally in favour of Belmont throughout the first half with their players having at least five clear goal scoring chances. Brian Cuddy will wonder for a long time how the ball he received from John Mulcahy’s corner and struck so well just did not go into the goal… Marcus Boggan also had his chance and drilled it into the edge of the side netting .. John Mulcahy , Jack Fahey and Patrick Sherwin also denied by fine Beechwood saves. Conor Booth, clearly the most confident goal keeper we have, pulled off some fine saves when called upon to do so. The passing was excellent and there was elements of tremendous creativity and ambition.As usual it was the Managers who took matters into their own hands and could not resist interfering with the formation of the team just to add some extra spice and excitement.
The managers succeeded in getting away with their folly for the last 5 minutes of the first half but buoyed by their misplaced confidence they decided to accentuate the changes in the shape of the team. First they switched Marcus Boggan into Defence from attack, bringing on Jack as a striker and switching Conor out of goal to give the goalkeeping duties to Mark Cloonan, then taking off Brian Cuddy and bringing on Cathal Dempsey and taking off Patrick Sherwin to make way for the Fiery Fiona McNulty managed to create confusion and too much change , Way too too quickly … The changes and the change of shape was noted and taken advantage of quickly by Beechwood who snatched one of their only real opportunities in the opening minutes of the second half to take the lead. Belmont rallied to the cause but so too did Beechwood gain in confidence and Belmont came under pressure with players in a combination of being out of position and being tired so the Laurel and Hardy management duo had a quick conference on the sidelines and eventually worked out a plan to revise the shape of the team with switches of positions to get the Belmont team into a more familiar formation with Mark Cloonan returning to his stalwart position in Defence , Marcus going up to trouble the defenders and Conor moving back into goal having made a fine contribution in the outfield.Suddenly the referee points to the penalty spot , John Mulcahy having been tackled in the box was directed to take the penalty himself. Too late for the management to realise that poor John had actually been hurt in the tackle and was too sore to blast the ball with the accuracy normally expected. On and on the minutes ticked by , Belmont growing in confidence again took the upper hand with plenty of posssession though were regularly stretched by Beechwood who were quick on the break. Beechwood as a team were better at attacking and slightly weaker in defence so it was always a risk to throw our players forward. The loyal fans of Belmont were vocal in support of the team , a handball not being spotted with five minutes to go was greeted with howls by the supporters but the kids played on. Eighteen minutes of the second half played and manager Mulcahy turned to his counterpart Boggan and said 'I think we might be going down here and its our own fault…'

Ninteen minutes and Conor Booth made a fine save to deny Beechwood a second , the ball won from the kickout saw Mulcahy and Sherwin linkup to break through the Beechwood midfield, Marcus Boggan put himself into position in the box and drew the Beechwood defence towards him as Mulcahy finds Luke Sheehan who had burst up the wing from defence to join the last gasp attack with a sublime pass. Sheehan took the ball assuredly and advanced towards the goal. ‘Pass , Pass….’ was the only thing that could be heard from the Belmont sidelines as Sheehan looked to be too far from the goal , ‘Pass’ yelled Marcus who was steadying himself to volley the ball but Sheehan had other ideas and with a poachers eye , took aim on his own and as the ball hit the back of the Beechwood net , the roars from the sideline were immense.

Hugs and high fives all around as Mulcahy and Boggan smiled wryly safe in the knowledge that their managerial careers would drag on for at least one more week. Rafa Benitez eat your heart out… this was a thrilling performance from a team who have grown together in the few months they have played together , have demonstrated that they have patience and a never give up attitude. If only the managers had the same patience as their charges…