AFTER the celebrations of winning a first league since 2017 died down a little, Crettyard manager, Cristoir Maher said he was delighted for his team.
“It’s unbelievable, I can’t quite believe it. It was in New Oak’s hands and there was nothing we could do. They couldn’t get the job done though so it’s ours and it’s well deserved. I was in my girlfriend’s house and somebody text me to tell me it was 1-1, and I kind of just put the phone down to the side and didn’t look at it, then it started beeping like mad and I glanced over at it and I saw we’re after winning the league. It’s more so for the boys, I’ve won leagues, the likes of Craig [Comerford], Mikey [Byrne], Colin Osborne, Seamus Dowling, all these boys have won numerous titles. We counted up last night and for 13 players on the squad it was their first time to win a Premier Division medal, that’s some serious achievement. I’m delighted for the boys.”
Crettyard with the Nationalist Premier Division title
Photo: Michael O’Rourke
He said a huge pre-season and fitness were important.
“I’m not going to say I knew we were going to win the league but I spoke to the boys in pre-season and we put in serious work, I mean serious, serious hard training. I’ve always said it in junior soccer, if you can be the fittest team you always give yourself a chance, the amount of running they’ve done this season is massive and they got what they deserved. When Damien Locke took over us with Patrick Brennan many years ago, Damien was all football, a great coach, but he had Patrick Brennan with him and one night he told Damien, just run the absolute hell out of them, and that stuck with me.
“We had so many obstacles in our way all season, losing players, everything was a struggle but the boys put in the hard work and it pays off. Everyone says New Oak left it behind them and that’s fair enough but we had the points on the board and at the end of the day we had more points on the league table than New Oak and that’s all that counts. It takes 16 games to win a league and we had enough points to win the league after 16 games. I wouldn’t have taken on the job if I didn’t think there was a league in the boys.
“What we did was put in a savage pre-season and got the boys fit enough to compete. We had a bad start, drew with New Oak which is never a bad result, but we drew with Kilree and Parkville but once we got going, we found our rhythm. The three boys at the back have been so good, teams find it so hard to break us down. At the start of the year, I knew we would be there/thereabouts, I knew we’d be knocking about. Getting homegrown players back involved was huge, likes of Cormac Murphy, Jonah Kelly, John Brennan, Pierce Nash, Podge Lawlor, Evan O’Carroll (I know he only played one game but he scored the goal that drew 1-1 with New Oak, that was a crucial point). You can’t beat young lads. Young Blake Rice is 17 years old winning his first league medal, it’s unbelievable, 16 when he started out this season, it’s crazy, it’s where I started out myself winning my first league at 17.”
Brian O’Reilly (hon sec CDFL) presents the Nationalist Premier Division Trophy to Crettayd United captain Jack Brady. Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
After the New Oak game in Killeen a few weeks ago, the league was left delicately poised and whilst Crettyard weren’t out of it due to the fact that New Oak needed 10 points from 12, there was a sense that it was a big blow to them. Maher says it was all about belief.
“I didn’t think it was over but at the same time you wouldn’t be expecting New Oak to drop that many points. We gave the lads the Tuesday afterwards off, everybody just needed a few days to get over it and I spoke to the boys on the Thursday night and said Bagenalstown is a hard place to go, very hard to get a result down there, I knew they’d struggle down there, and then they had Killeshin who are fighting for safety. When it’s out of your hands, you just have to get on with it. All that was important for us was beating Bagenalstown at home, that’s all we could do. When you have points on the board, there’s pressure. Especially when New Oak are going for four in a row, Walkinstown did it, Crettyard did it, there was serious pressure to deliver the four in a row and sometimes pressure can do strange things.”
By Harry Shorthose
Crettyard’s Colin Osborne with his children Finn, Isla and Nina pictured with the Nationalist Premier Division Trophy. Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
Crettayd United captain Jack Brady and his children Ella-May and Delilah pictured with the Nationalist Premier Division Trophy. Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
