Ballyer moving in the right direction

BALLYFERMOT United have been having an excellent season as we are past the halfway point in the Leinster Senior League.

The side find themselves in 2nd place in the Leinster Senior 1A division having won eight games, drawing two and losing one.

Now back in the league after the Christmas break, the side got their 2026 league campaign off to an excellent start after they defeated Glenville in a local derby.

Glenville had been on hot form coming into the game winning their last five matches on the bounce but Ballyfermot were able to get it over the line and managed a 2-0 victory to keep themselves towards the top of the table.

Their last game saw them travel to third place Leixlip United where they played out a 0-0 draw, securing themselves a valuable point in the process and keeping themselves hot on the heels of league leader Blackrock College.

Manager Tony O’Dowd reflected on the team’s performance so far this season and what was making the key difference.

“The lads have been brilliant and show a lot of commitment.

‘At this level it makes a big difference. The lads have their own business, work and family but have said this year look we’re going to give it a go and get up twice a week, three times a week and train.

‘The lads aren’t missing training and I think that has made a big difference this year.”

The club had not anticipated to be performing so well this year and with O’Dowd only coming into the role in the summer were initially expecting this season to be more about finding their feet rather than challenging for top honours.

“I came in late in mid july, this year was just to try and steady the ship and see how we got on.

‘We were hoping to get things set in place for having a good go at the league next year. We are probably a bit ahead of where we thought we’d be.”

The team is out of the Metropolitan cup but is still in their league cup after beating Dublin Bus on penalties and will be in more cup competitions during the rest of the season.

Despite the prospect of a cup, O’Dowd and Ballyfermot are prioritising the league.

‘Blackrock are currently ahead of them by a single point in top spot and they have plenty of teams nipping at their heels including Leixlip, Newbridge and St Paul’s Artane.

“We’re taking each game as it comes. We’re second in the league so obviously we’re going to be trying to win the league.

‘Generally though in the league you finish up where you deserve to finish up, it’s not like the cup where you can get an easy draw.”

“We deserve to be second at the moment and when you’re second you’re obviously looking to win the league but we are under no illusions.

‘It’s going to be very tough. There’s teams that probably have underperformed up till now and will have strengthened after christmas.

‘This is where it really gets down to the nitty gritty so we will see where we end up.”