St Anne’s juniors secure league crown

ST ANNES clinched the AFL Division 7 title with a victory over Erins Isle last weekend.

“Our main goal was promotion first and foremost. We missed out on points difference last year for promotion so after winning the junior 2 county championship last year our main goal this year was to get promoted back up to AFL 6 to minimise the gap between our first team and second team.”

St Annes initially got off to a stuttering start losing two of their first five games in the league but soon found themselves in the groove of winning.

“We got a couple players up to the inters due to injuries so a few lads from the minors and a few lads came back from travelling so we had the makings of a good team there then and the boys put the foot on the gas. From May onwards they were excellent.”

The match against Erins Isle was a cagey affair. St Annes were riddled with injuries throughout the first half making three substitutions in the first 15 minutes.

A mistake at the back led to Erins Isle scoring a goal after an intercepted kick out from the keeper but it was not enough to secure victory for the Finglas side.

Still the performance was impressive, St Annes have been an especially free scoring team this year so limiting them to just nine points was a real feat.

Trevor Dunne spoke of the resilience that his side had shown throughout the campaign.

“Togetherness really, Our ethos is just hard work.

‘We have the best defensive record and I think that’s testament from man 15 down that we just try to turn teams over in their half, with a high press and pressure every kick off.

‘Working off that then. We say that as a management it’s not the 15 on the pitch that wins the game it’s the 23 or 24 lads together.”

“We were galvanised now with the passing of Gerry Anderson. We had that kind of bit between our teeth there.

‘We were like ‘we need to go win this now’ because he would have loved nothing more than to be present there on the day.”

The team are now preparing for the junior 1 county championship where they will take on local rivals Thomas Davis in their first game.

The competition marks a significant step up for the side who will be competing against teams in the AFL 5 and 6 divisions.

‘Dunne is confident that his side has what it takes to compete however.

“We’ll fancy our chances in getting out of the groups. We’re under no pressure.

‘Our big goal this year was to get promoted out of the league and winning the league has made that much more sweeter. We’ll go into the championship, have a shot and tell the lads to go out and enjoy themselves.”

Some of the key members of the St Annes team this season includes player manager Eoin Kennedy, Aaron Shanahan, Sam Doran, Kealan Dowling, Luke Reddy and Jack Mahon.

“They’ve all contributed in every way shape and form. They would be the standouts.”