Another great season for Carlow Soccer comes to an end
It was another season of success for New Oak Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
The season will probably be remembered most as being the season that two of the best managers that the Carlow League has seen over the last ten years have called it quits. After the Carlow Cup final, both Gavin Dowling and Patrick Brennan confirmed to The Nationalist their intentions of stepping away from management. In Brennan’s case, from football altogether, Dowling said he would like to stay on at New Oak as Goalkeeper Coach. Dowling retires with 15 trophies from his five years in charge of the Paupish and probably goes down as the best manager the Carlow League has ever seen. Patrick Brennan led both Crettyard and St. Pat’s to league titles, and even took Crettyard to a Leinster Junior Cup final back in 2019. He rebuilt Pat’s from only just staying in the Premier to a title winning side.
New Oak were crowned Premier champions for the first time in three years, but it was the relegation race that really drew the most attention. From early on, it looked like New Oak were cruising to the league title and apart from a small blemish in the form of a 6-0 defeat to Killeshin they went through the season relatively unscathed. A 2-1 win over Bagenalstown meant they had one hand on the league trophy. Bagenalstown made things interesting for a while but two losses to New Oak meant they were out of the race.
The relegation race though was quite possibly the greatest ever. With only three teams safe, the final few months of the season drew a lot of interest. Nobody knew who would go down, right until the final day with up to six teams potentially in danger. Burrin pulled away early securing their safety whilst defending champions Pat’s ensured their safety with three wins on the bounce. It then became a four horse race between Killeshin, newly promoted St. Fiacc’s, Parkville and Hanover Harps. St. Fiacc’s booked their safety next with a big win over Crettyard followed by a shock defeat of Bagenalstown who had beaten them just days before in the cup. For Killeshin it was a waiting game, they had all their games played bar one, New Oak. So they had to sit back and wait and hope that they had done enough to stay up. Parkville and Hanover couldn’t get enough points to overtake them so Killeshin ended up safe too. It went down to the final day and a straight shootout between the two, a winner takes all scenario. Hanover faced New Oak and needed a win and Parkville to lose against Bagenalstown but Parkville just needed a win or Hanover to drop points. Parkville lost and faced a nervy ten minutes to see if New Oak could cling on for at least a draw. Unfortunately Hanover couldn’t find a winner and for the first time in over 20 years will be playing Division 1 football next season.
Bagenalstown shocked New Oak to win the Premier Cup with two Robbie Kane goals being the catalyst as New Oak lost a Premier Cup final for the first time under Gavin Dowling. This was Bagenalstown’s first trophy at Premier level for the first time in 19 years, their last trophy being the KCLR Carlow Shield back in 06/07. New Oak made amends though when they beat Pat’s for a third year in a row to claim the Douglas Jewellers Carlow Cup.
The Division One title race was perhaps the most interesting and intriguing of all the title races. A two horse race for a lot of the season looked like it was done and dusted when Slaney beat nearest rivals Baltinglass at the end of February but back to back defeats against Baltinglass and then Kilree left the Rathvilly side in trouble. It was no longer in their own hands and needed Baltinglass to slip up. And they did just that, dropping two points against St. Pat’s B, meaning it would go down to the final day, bringing Slaney back into it. Knowing the title was in their own hands on the final day, Slaney didn’t make the same mistakes as before and recorded a huge 8-0 win over New Oak B on the final day. They went on to overcome big challenges in the form of Baltinglass and New Oak B to qualify for the cup final. There they dismantled Kilree and became the first side to do the double.
The Division Two title race was closely contested between four sides and up until the final few weeks, Mill Celtic, Castle Rangers, Nurney and St. Fiacc’s B were all in the mix for the title. Castle who won the Plate final back in September were first out of the race, picking up just two points in five games after Christmas. St. Fiacc’s B also struggled after Christmas, picking up just four points out of a possible 15, picking up just one point from their final four games. Nurney took it all the way but ultimately were made to pay for their poor pre Christmas period. After an unbeaten start to the season they lost two on the trot. Ultimately it wasn’t enough and despite beating the champs twice, they fell short, losing out by a point to Mill who won the league on the final day knowing that all they had to do was draw. In a shock to many, Mill were knocked out of the cup in the first round by Nurney who went on to defeat Crettyard B in the final.
St. Anne’s returned to the Carlow League this season and lost just two games in Division 3 as they won the league at a canter, ultimately winning by seven points. Despite their dominance they were eliminated in round one of the cup and St. Joseph’s went on to win their first trophy at adult level.
St. Joseph’s had a great season with their Youths winning their league, losing just one game all season to win a first ever trophy for Joeys in the Carlow League. Burrin Celtic had a fairytale run to winning the Youths cup having won two games all season in the league. Bagenalstown B went unbeaten through the season to claim the Youths Division 2 title. New Oak edged past Pat’s in the final of the cup.
The women’s league looked set for ages to be headed to a play-off between Newpark and Vale but two back to back defeats for the Kilkenny side to Mill Celtic put them on the backfoot and chasing Vale who claimed a first league title in Carlow. Vale were knocked out of the cup in the first round on penalties by Mill who went on to defeat Newpark in the final.
New Oak cruised to a win in the girls league, winning 8 from 8 in their first season at adult level, an U16’s group stepping up to U18’s level. They were left heartbroken in the cup though when Vale beat them to the trophy.
