Sport Year in Review 2019: January
By Hayden Moore
ON NEW Year’s Day, Vinny Perth was announced as Head Coach of Dundalk, taking over from fellow Tallaght man Stephen Kenny, who left the club to take over as Republic of Ireland Under 21 manager.
FELLOW Tallaght man Jim Crawford stepped down as Ireland Under 18 Head Coach to join Kenny’s Under 21 squad as an assistant coach.
Vinny Perth
RATHFARNHAM WSAF’S Mitchel Byrne made a great start to 2019 after winning gold at the Leinster Cross Country Championship in Gowran AC, Co Kilkenny.
TALLAGHT Athletic Club’s Joseph Ojewumi turned heads when he topped the podium in the National Under 23 60m sprint, setting a new championship best time of 6.83 and becoming the first competitor to earn a place in the line-up for on The Echo 2019 Amateur Sports Awards.
Tallaght AC’s Joseph Ojewumi (centre) won gold in the National Under 23 60m Sprint with a championship best time of 6.83
AFTER serving as a vice-captain in the last three Ryder Cups, Ballyroan’s Padraig Harrington was named Europe team captain for the 2020 Ryder Cup.
SACRED Heart Killinarden joined forces with neighbours Firhouse Clover in an exciting senior football merger.
IRELAND legend Damien Duff departed his role as underage coach with Shamrock Rovers after he was offered a full-time coaching role with Celtic’s reserve team before being promoted to first-team coach the following month.
MEANWHILE, former Cherry Orchard player Gerry Coughlan took over the reins at Bristol Rovers on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
HAVING finished fourth and then third in the AAI National Indoor League, Donore Harriers Athletic Club’s Men’s Indoor Team captured silver in a very strong field in Athlone, with the side team also being named as The Echo’s January Team of the Month.
Donore Harriers’ Lara O’Byrne
INDIVIDUALLY, Donore’s Lara O’Byrne emerged victorious in the Junior Women’s division at the National Indoor Combined Events Cham-pionships.
THE SECOND Winter Challenge hosted by the Ice Skating Association of Ireland took place at South Dublin on Ice with figure skating competition featuring 27 competitors in six different categories.
MANAGER Harry Kenny bolstered his St Patrick’s Athletic squad ahead of the start of the 2019 League of Ireland season with the addition of Chris Forrester and Rhys McCabe.
Three Rock Rovers won the Men’s Leinster Indoor League title and then followed it up with the retention of their National Indoor Trophy for a third successive season just a week later.
THREE Rock Rovers produced a superb second-half performance to land the Men’s Leinster Indoor League title, and a week later retained the National Indoor Trophy for a third successive year.
HOLY Family lifted their first-ever camogie title after scraping past Gaelcholáiste Reachrann to land the Senior ‘C’ Camogie Shield with a 4-1 to 1-9 victory.
THERE was double joy for Liffey Celtics Basketball Club in the National Cup as both their Women’s Super League and Under 18 teams emerged victorious from their respective finals.
CRUMLIN Boxing Club’s Courtney Daly completed her march to a ninth National title at the National Under 22 Finals when she beat Smithfield’s Ciara Walsh in the Women’s 48kg class.
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