Catholic Utd v Larkspur Rovers

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It’s been a little while since I’ve produced our monthly magazine, which is wholly down to work commitments but I’m hoping to be able to get back on this early in the New Year.

In the meantime, for the Anagrams Trophy, we have to produce a matchday programme, so here’s a small programme to whet the whistle and also keep my eye in using the software!!

We’ve been enjoying good cup runs this season and as good as this is, we’re lagging behind the number of games played in the league. Expect a busy couple of months as the Olympian League push to get our fixtures completed.

From the start of November, where we played our last league game, a 3-1 defeat to Old Southendian, we’ve been involved in Essex Premier Cup and the Olympian League Cup action.

The 12th November saw us defeat a determined Heybridge Swifts Reserve team at Len Forge in the second round of the Essex Senior Cup. Aaron Baldwin grabbed a brace to see us through to the next round.

The following weekend and another home tie, we defeated Manford Way in what was a great game for the neutrals, with an 8-goal thriller. Manford Way certainly arrived in good form and in a tight opening to the match, they tried to stamp their authority on the game with some heavy challenges and a direct game which gave Jack and Louis a lot of heading practice at the heart of the defence. Ben Burrows secured player-ofthe-match with his endless running. Another positive on the day was seeing club captain Mike Sammut, getting on the scoresheet with a couple of goals.

FROM THE EDITOR

Finally, on the 3rd December we secured our quarter final spot in the Essex Premier Cup with a gritty display against Colne Athletic. Colne, on a very good run in the Middlesex League grabbed an equaliser from kick off after Louie Hay’s first goal for the club.

One thing that has been apparent over the last month or so is that we aren’t going to be bulleyed in games which, you could say, is a stark difference to earlier games this season.

Due to this, a dominant second half saw us retain posession for good periods and create a number of chances.

Talking of creativity, what has been a breath of fresh air is the return of young Joe O’Kane. I honestly think this is as good as a new signing. Joe’s forward running in the middle of the park has made him a menace for oppositiion sides. His run into the penalty area in the Colne Athletic game before being fouled, is proof of a player who isn’t afraid to get at players. His ability with the ball at his feet saw the defender make a decision to hold back and it is this indecision he gives to defenders which makes Joe an asset.

For his age, he certainly looks at home at Olympian Premier level and I think Simon will agree that he offers a lot to a Catholic United squad which already has very good attack minded players, such as Frank Craik, Aaron Baldwin, James Warder, Ben Burrows and Thomas Kearney.

With the postponements due to the freezing weather last weekend, we were unable to play our league game at Runwell Sports. As it stands today we have played three games less than runaway leaders Hutton, but have played 5 less than Old Southendian and 6 less than Canning Town. Winning our games in hand will see us jump to second in the table, but the old adage rings true that points on the board is always better than games in hand!!

So it is safe to say that cup runs and possible silverware this brings does have its drawbacks. There is no secret to our desire to be playing Step 6 football and as Simon has previously said, we want to win everything this season. If we miss out on a runners-up spot in the league but manage to win a couple of cup competitions, I think Simon will be happy enough, but there is still a long road ahead.

Today’s game see us welcome Larkspur Rovers to the Len Forge Centre. Larkspur ply their trade in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division. They’re have a good season so far, sitting fourth in the table, four points behind the leaders Shepherds Bush.

Their league form so far: P12, W6, D4, L2, F25, A18, PTS22

I’m sure todays game will be just as competitive as all of our other cup games this season but let’s hope that we can secure another win, even if it is to take a good run of form into our league games.

Best of luck to both sides and let’s hope the match is played in the spirit of the season, without the gift wrapping of goals that is.

Rob Lilley Media Manager

A shorter than normal column for me and so much to talk about as always.

Firstly welcome to Larkspur Rovers management team, players and supporters. I hope you had a good journey to our little corner of the world but moreso, have a safe journey home after today’s game.

It’s been an interesting month or so. We’ve seen ourselves move forward in the cup competitions yet fall behind in the league simply because we’re not playing league games. One league game in our last four matches means we’ve some catching up to do but with the squad we have, I am confident that we can regain ground and be where we need to be at the end of the season. The league is a priority but don’t get me wrong, I’ll be more than happy to pick up silverware from our cup campaigns this term.

Talking of the squad, it is good to welcome back Joe O’Kane who has already had a positive impact. It’s great to see him enjoying his football again. We’ve another big test ahead today, an unknown quantity in Larkspur Rovers, but that only adds to the intrigue for supporters and a tactical battle for both management teams. I’m sure it will be a good game and obviously I hope to be smiling at the end of it.

Simon Thomas

Official Media Partner

Larkspur Rovers are a Northolt based football club, founded in 1950. Originally the Club consisted of one adult team, but over its long history it has grown into a club for all ages.

This coming season we will have a soccer Nursery and youth teams from U7 up to U16, a ladies team, 3 men’s Sunday teams and one Saturday team.

Since our move to Lord Halsbury Playing Fields in 2013, the Club has continued to grow. We are fortunate enough to have our own small sided AGP which has certainly aided the youth teams where we have a number of promising teams playing excellent football.

With some good youth players coming through the ranks and the facilities available to us bringing in players from other clubs, our adult section has been on an upward curve over the past few years, with our Sunday team winning both the Middlesex and Surrey County Cups and our Saturday team moving from the lowest division in the Middlesex County Football League, through to the Premier Division in 5 seasons.

COME AND JOIN BELFAIRS GOLF CLUB

LURGAN CELTIC FOOTBALL

CLUB

Official Allegiance Club

Sharing club values of being open and inclusive to all, to encompass and represent all members in the community and society in which we operate

Team photo by Chris Totten

LURGAN CELTIC

As our ties with Celtic Football Club grow stronger following Calvin Carter-Vickers permanent transfer a few weeks ago, we decided it would be good to seek out other like-minded clubs that have the same values that we do.

During pre-season we reached out to Lurgan Celtic to cement an official allegiance, and a club we are happy to introduce to everyone.

So, who are Lurgan Celtic FC?

A club by the name of Lurgan Celtic was originally formed in 1903, with the obvious slant of aiming towards the Roman Catholic community of the town, adopting the name and colours of Glasgow Celtic, a popular club among the Irish Catholics population of Glasgow and the west of Scotland. At the time it was a bold move to try and break into the world of football. The Gaelic Athletic Association was in its early stages and was keen to promote Gaelic sports and football in particular, perceived as “foreign”, was discouraged. A change in attitudes gradually took hold in the early 1970s and Lurgan Celtic was reborn to try its luck again in the local football scene, quickly rising to become one of the strongest clubs in the Craigavon area.

Irish Football League membership remained elusive during these years, partly due to the presence of Glenavon down the road at a time when the IFA was trying to reach out to new footballing towns. There was also a suggestion that it was the club’s clearly Nationalist stance as they pushed for membership of what was considered a predominantly Unionist league that stood in their way at that time. So strongly was this felt that the club joined forces with Belfast club Donegal Celtic, another club that took its name and kit from the Glasgow club, and threatened the League with legal action to gain membership. The restructuring of the league in the early part of the 21st century eventually resulted in both Celtic clubs gaining admission to the Irish Football League Second Division for the 2002–03 season.

In 2003 the club closed their town centre ground and relocated to share Oxford United’s ground on the edge of Lurgan at Knockramer Park, which offered better facilities.

Promotion to the Intermediate League First Division was achieved in 2006–07, but in 2008 the club failed to meet the criteria for a place in the new IFA Championship, and found itself in the IFA Interim League for the 2008–09 season. They successfully made the necessary improvements to gain admission to the newly formed third tier, IFA Championship 2, for the 2009–10 season. After seven seasons of consolidation in Championship 2 with occasional flirts with relegation, Celtic surged to the 2014–15 NIFL Championship 2 title, achieving promotion to the national second tier, Championship 1.

On the back of their title success the previous season, Celtic pulled off one of the local game’s biggest giant-killing acts of the 21st century. After reaching the quarter-finals for the first time ever in the 2015–16 Irish Cup, Celtic were drawn to face senior NIFL Premiership side and beaten Irish Cup finalists the previous year, Portadown away at Shamrock Park. Celtic stunned the Ports by taking a 2–0 lead after 54 minutes. However, Portadown came back into the match after 70 minutes with two goals of their own to level the score at 2–2. However, Lurgan Celtic had the last say, and scored a last-minute penalty to win 3–2 and cause a major upset by eliminating Portadown and reaching the semi-finals of the cup for the first time in the club’s history. The match was also notable as Portadown’s final match under the management of Ronnie McFall. After the match, the Portadown manager resigned, ending his reign at the club after 29 years.[2] In the Irish Cup semifinal they were defeated 3–0 by Linfield with Aaron Burns scoring a hat-trick.

Despite the achievement of reaching the IrishCup semi-finals, manager Colin Malone resigned at the end of the 2016-17 season and the club endured a period of instability. The appointment of Brendan Shannon as Celtic player-manager could not prevent a serious downturn in results, and Shannon left halfway through the 2017-18 season, to be succeeded by Frankie Wilson. By this point, relegation to the third tier had become an inevitability; Celtic finished the season 20 points adrift of 11th-placed Dergview.

A 17-year spell in the Northern Ireland Football League ended on 15 August 2019, as the club announced its intention to withdraw from the Premier Intermediate League, with a view to reforming youth structures and resuming senior football activities for the 2020-21 season. It was announced on 29 June 2020 that Lurgan Celtic’s application to join the Mid-Ulster Football League was accepted, and the club played in the MUFL Division 3 for the 2020-21 season, which was suspended due to Covid. The first full season back playing for the senior team was 2021-22 at the end of which saw the team gain promotion to Division 2 and win the John Magee Memorial cup.

Michael Smyth and Donie McCourt agreed to take over the management of the squad upon its return to action and this season has seen a highly competitive league with FC Mindwell and Bessbrook United vying with Lurgan Celtic throughout the season for the promotional spots in the league. FC Mindwell started the season in phenomenal form and won each of their opening 19 league games to open up a healthy lead at the summit of the table.

The Hoops opened their own season with convincing wins over FC United of Lisburn, Damolly, The Dons and Lisburn Youth, before falling to defeat at home to Castlecaulfield. Throughout this time Dwyer Lavery, Aaron Withers, Gary Gilmore and Paddy Toman were regulars on the scoresheet, as the team showed glimpses of the excellent talent and scoring prowess they possessed. Bessbrook and the Hoops were neck and neck with little quarter given, and it was no surprise that the first meeting of the sides saw an entertaining match end level at 2 goals a-piece.

As the season entered post-Christmas fixtures Mindwell looked uncatchable; but things turned in Bessbrooks favour for the second promotional spot when a disappointing draw away to Loughshore, was soon followed by a narrow defeat away to Tollymore United, which seriously dented Celtic’s ambitions. Both games had been played in tough conditions, but the players also failed to turn up in the contests and tough questions needed answering by the squad. With a game looming against unbeaten Mindwell, it was acknowledged that realistically only a win would push the Hoops back into the mix and so it fared out, as the team produced probably one of its best performances of the season to administer a 4-1 defeat to the visitors in devastating fashion.

Michael Haughian and Michael McConville were turning in excellent performances in addition to the attack-minded players in the team, including the January addition Jonny Reynolds; as they soon put a fantastic run together that saw 11 league wins produced on the bounce, coupled with a John Magee Memorial cup run that took them to the final. The league form saw them soon bypass Bessbrook and promotion was secured with a game to spare. It had been a fantastic achievement by the management and playing squad, although a Cup final loomed to round off what would hopefully be a hugely successful season for the Wee Hoops.

The final saw them pitted against Castlecaulfield, who had proved tough opposition in the league, and on Wed 8th June at Holm Park, Armagh, the final was played. Celtic took an early lead courtesy of player of the year Paddy Toman, before Castlecaulfield equalised before halftime. Whilst there were opportunities for Celtic to regain the lead in the contest, the match entered the final quarter with both teams locked level. With thoughts drifting to extra time, young player of the year Michael McConville coolly slotted home to secure the win and John Magee Memorial Cup success for Lurgan Celtic. The team will enjoy the brief break before returning with plans afoot for the new season in MUFL Division 2.

The club cherishes its PAST, works hard in the PRESENT and endeavours to plan for the FUTURE. We are a club that is open and welcome to all; and seek to encompass and represent all members of the community and society in which we operate.

CATHOLIC UNITED LARKSPUR ROVERS

LIAM MCKINLEY BAILEY MULHALL BRADLEY MORRIS KAMYUS METRANE COURTNEY FRANCIS RYAN DURRANT AIDEN HURLEY CEZZANE HARRY CRAIG MATHIESON RHYS BREED OMAR SARGVON DAN POWER DAN DE ABREU GEORGI PAVLOV GIMA FONSO RYAN BUCKLAND BEN MCCARRON ANTHONY BYFIELD MUBARAK OSMAN EDEN FREEMAN ABDIKAFI AFARH DAMEL DIOUM DELUXE MWENGULA CALLUM BENNETT RAFA DE SOUZA CHARLIE QUINELL