After their win on Sunday Bagenalstown who are currently unbeaten after their 14 games were crowned champions and league secretary Brian O' Reilly was on hand to present the trophy to team captain Andrew Kane
Doyle double delight sees Town crowned champions
By Harry Shorthose
Bagenalstown 4
Mill Celtic 1
Tullys Travel Division
Danny Doyle’s 30th and 31st goals of the season were enough to see Bagenalstown get past a gritty Mill Celtic side to be crowned Tully’s Travel Division One champions on Sunday morning. Bagenalstown dominated for large periods but couldn’t take their chances. Mill Celtic were tough to break down and gave away a lot of frees, taking the pace out of the game, not allowing Bagenalstown to play their free flowing game.
It was the perfect start for Bagenalstown as they took the lead within three minutes. A Cian Doyle corner from the right was headed in at the back post by captain Andrew Kane. They continued to put pressure on, and a minute later, a Robbie Kane corner from the left was cleared. Eight minutes later, Darren Crooks went close but hit his effort at the 'keeper. With 16 minutes gone, a Dylan Wynne free was played short to Daniel Mackey down the right hand side but he was beaten and the ball was cleared. Five minutes later, a Darragh Nolan volley from outside the box was hit into the 'keeper who struggled but controlled the ball eventually. Midway through the half, a Kane free was hit into the 'keeper whilst an Eoghan Dowling cross from the left was hit into Crooks who couldn’t quite get his head onto it. Kane again sent in a free from the left, finding Doyle at the back post but he couldn’t quite get onto the end of it. On the half hour mark, Mill equalised as a wonder free kick from Eric Mackey from the left was hit into the far bottom corner. With 12 minutes to go until half-time, a Kane corner from the left was cleared and played back to him with his effort being deflected over the bar. With ten minutes to go, a James Hickey effort was hit wide on the right. Seven minutes later, a Kane free from halfway was cleared with the resulting corner from Cian Doyle from the right being cleared. On the verge of half-time, Daniel Mackey's free from the left was cleared.
Mill carried on where they left off after the break as a Killan Harney effort was hit over the bar before an Eric Mackey free was hit off the wall. The Town slowly made their way back into the game as a Cian Doyle free from the edge of the box was hit over the bar. Just short of the hour mark, a Daniel Mackey free from the right was cleared with the resulting corner being cleared. A Ben Corcoran corner from the right was cleared. With 66 minutes gone, Danny Doyle broke into the box and cut across the defender who took him down with referee Nathan Bannon pointing straight to the spot. Doyle sent the keeper the wrong way and hit his shot into the right hand corner. Now it was about hanging on. With 20 minutes to go, a Kane free from halfway was hit into Alan Corcoran who headed wide. A Corcoran effort shortly produced a double save from the Mill 'keeper to deny the Town. With 13 minutes to go, Darragh Nolan went close, hitting an effort wide from the edge of the box. With nine minutes left, a Kane effort from the left from distance was hit just wide at the near post. With eight minutes to go, Bagenalstown made the win secure as Corcoran headed a Danny Doyle cross in from the right. Six minutes later, a Kane free from the edge of the box was hit off the crossbar. With a minute to go, Doyle got his second of the day to give The Town all three points, promotion to the Premier Division next season and the Division One title. Mill are still fighting relegation, while St. Joseph’s have been removed from the league automatically due to having given two walkovers in the season and are automatically relegated and their results cancelled, one more team must still go down. There is only a point’s difference between Mill and Parkville B.
Bagenalstown: Thomas Geoghan, Martin Cummins, David O’Miley, Andrew Kane, Eoghan Dowling, Cian Doyle, James Hickey, Robbie Kane, Danny Doyle, Darragh Nolan, Darren Crooks. Subs: Alan Corcoran, Dylan Kavanagh, Thomas Dowling, Michael Nolan, Pa Deane, Trevor Nolan.
Mill Celtic: Cody Dempsey, Michael O’Sullivan, Conor O’Sullivan, Paddy Dunne, Brian Mackey, Eric Mackey, Killian Harney, Ben Corcoran, Dylan Wynne, Ciaran O’Sullivan, Dan Mackey/ Subs: Eoin O’Neill, Gary Lambe, Scott Keogh, Shane O’Neill.
O’Mara speechless after Town crowned champions
By Harry Shorthose
Arriving into Bagenalstown on Sunday morning, there was the sense that something special was happening. The whole sideline was covered in blue and white flags, one of the club’s youth teams were special guests to watch on as The Town won the club’s first trophy in a long time. Whilst Bagenalstown started off nervy, they eventually got over the line and they looked comfortable. They’ve been unbeaten so far in the league, their only blemish a draw against Crettyard B in October. It’s been a huge turnaround from Bagenalstown who have been difficult to face, having scored four or more on nine occasions this season so far. The addition of Danny Doyle has been a huge bonus, having scored 30 goals this season, Robbie Kane being back for a full season has helped as has the addition of Cian Doyle. Manager and Chairman of the club, Murt O’Mara was speechless as he watched his side’s celebrations and was full of emotion. “It’s been a long week, it showed early on that we were a little nervous, we haven’t won anything in a long time. I can’t explain how it feels, it’s a massive day for the club. The club is going forward. I’m speechless, it’s not that I didn’t expect it, it’s just that we’ve been waiting for this moment all season and it’s been coming for a while and when it actually arrives, it’s surreal. A great day for the club, I can’t put it into words.”
He added that the journey is only just beginning for his side and that there’s a lot of work still to do. The journey started back in September, the first stage is complete, like our captain said we’re back where we belong, back Premier, now we need to build again and be competitive, it’s a big step up, no doubt about it, yeah we’re after being unbeaten in the division we’re after being in but it’s a massive step up to be playing Premier Division football. Some of these lads are exceptional. The effort that’s after going in, some of the lads that were here at the start of the season and left to play Football, we need all of them, Bagenalstown needs everyone. Next stage is I don’t think it’s been done before but to go unbeaten in Division 1, that’s the next stage, and hopefully have a good cup run too, we’re going to enjoy today, we’re going to enjoy tomorrow, we’ll have a good crack at a couple of beers and we’re really looking forward to the next step. I think the one thing that we have that Vale didn’t is experience, we have players who have played Premier before, Danny Doyle, Robbie Kane, Cian Doyle have all played before, Andrew Kane can play anywhere he’s exceptional so there’s 4 or 5 lads who have played before so they’re going to have to drag the rest of the lads along with them.”