Overview:
The 2008-09 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys League was one of the most successful since the under-age soccer leagues began with a host of club competing for honours right across the region.

SuperValu WCSL Leagues

SuperValu WCSL U12 Premier
Dunmanway Town were crowned SuperValu West cork Schoolboys U12 Premier League champions following a terrific season-long battle for the title with Lyre Rovers and Bay Rovers.


The 2008/09 U12 Premier League season will be remembered for the season long three-way battle for the title between Bay Rovers, Lyre Rovers and the eventual champions Dunmanway Town. 1 point seperated the clubs at the end of a dramatic campaign and in truth, any of the three clubs would have made worthy champions. Lyre and Bay ended up in joint-second on 27 points each (winning 8, drawing 3 and suffering a single loss). Lyre’s title aspirations came unstuck with 2 draws (v Dunmanway 1-1 and Bay 2-2) in their final league fixtures having enjoyed a 5 point lead earlier in the season. Rovers enjoyed a terrific season thanks to the talents of players such as Shane Tuschewski, Damien O’Gorman and Jamie Hurley. Ben Van Bree was the pick of Lyre’s players last term scoring a plethora of goals in a memorable season for the red-haired striker.

Bantry Bay Rovers produced a magnificent run of form to finish joint second behind champions Dunmanway following a tremendous campaign. Bay’s only two domestic losses during a remarkable season came away to Dunmanway in the league (3-0) and to Skibbereen in the U12 Cup semi finals on penalties. Rovers were simply devastating going forward with the deadly Conor Ellis firing in goals for fun all year. Ellis, Busby Clayton, Darren Cronin, Zach Boyce and Arron Bean were just some of the players to impress for the Kealkil side in 08/09.

FINAL DAY DRAMA
Dunmanway Town grabbed the 2008/09 SuperValu WCSL U12 Premier League title on the final day of the season following a nerve-tingling 2-2 draw with Drinagh Rangers. The championship scenario was simple for Dunmanway. Win and the U12 Premier League crown was theirs. Draw and they needed a similar result in Kealkil to claim the title. The precious point proved enough to claim the U12 Premier League crown with fellow title-rivals Bay Rovers and Lyre Rovers drawing 2-2 in Kealkil on the same evening. Goals from John Kelly and Dylan O'Driscoll earned Dunmanway a share of the spoils and when news filtered through of a Bay / Lyre draw Dunmanway celebrated winning the title.

Town proved worthy champions having remained unbeaten throughout the campaign (8 wins and 4 draws). The Mohona side missed out on a U12 league and cup double when Skibbereen beat them in a dramatic U12 Cup final. A talented squad was anchored by the magnificent goalkeeper Tom Murphy and defenders Jonathan O’Sullivan and Tim Healy. Dunmanway’s midfield was amongst the most talented in the region with Owen Lavers, Liam Rice, Aidan O'Donovan and especially Johnny Kelly playing magnificently throughout. Up front, Dunmanway possessed one of the breakout stars of the 08/09 season in Dylan O’Driscoll. The young striker topped the goal scoring charts for his club and rounded off a superb individual season with some eye-catching displays in the Kennedy Cup for the West Cork Schoolboys League.

Lyre and Bay Rovers fougt a terrific battle but in the end Dunmanway Town eventually emerged deserving 2008/09 SuperValu WCSL U12 Premier League Champions.

SuperValu WCSL U12 1st Division
Leeside were crowned SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys League U12 1st Division Champions following a dominant campaign which saw the Inchigeela side fail to win only once. Ardfield gained promotion to next season’s SuperValu U12 Premier League following an end of season play-off victory over Togher Celtic.

Leeside played 14 league fixtures in 2008/09 winning 13, drawing once and amassing an incredible 40 points. The Inchigeela club were crowned deserving Champions as early as April playing an attacking brand of football which few opponents could live with. Back to back wins over title rivals Togher (4-3 in March and 6-0 in November) paved the way for their title success. Runners-up Ardfield were the only club to prevent Leeside from obtaining a 100% winning record with a 2-2 in October but the Inchigeela club would gain revenge in the return fixture in March.

Leeside effectively sealed the title following an eleven goal thriller to win 6-5 in Carrigroe. Leeside possessed the strongest squad in the division and deservedly claimed top honours with consistent performances from Chris Óg Jones, Barry O’Leary, Finbarr McSweeney, Liam Cotter and Sean Quinn. Midfield talisman Cathal Vaughan was the pick of their best players dominating the centre of the park during the majority of his side’s battles en route to the title. Despite losing 5-1 in the WCSL U12 Cup (at home to Bay Rovers) Leeside should enjoy mixing it with the big boys of the SuperValu U12 Premier League next season and are more than capable of pulling off a few shock results. The 2008/09 U12 1st Division campaign will live long in the memory for the Inchigeela side with the potential of more success to come next season.

SuperValu WCSL U14 Premier and 1st Division
Skibbereen dominated the 2008/09 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys U14 Premier League season finishing unbeaten at the end of a lengthy campaign to deservedly claim the championship. In their debut WCSL season Clonakilty Town annexed the SuperValu U14 1st Division title and promotion at the first attempt.

U14 PREMIER
One team and one team alone dominated the SuperValu WCSL U14 Premier 2009 season: Skibbereen. The Baltimore Road club played some dazzling football and racked up an astonishing 32 points out of a possible 35 en route to an historic U14 league and cup double. Lead by the exciting forward line of Brendan Dwyer and Steven McCarthy Skibb netted an incredible 58 goals and conceded a meagre 12. Goalkeeper Niall McCarthy had a fantastic season between the sticks with Richard Fitzgerald and Brian Leonard the pick of Skibb’s defenders. Skibb’s success was anchored by the talented midfield pairing of Sean Deasy and Kevin Davis. It is doubtful there was as dominant a team as Skibb in any of the other WCSL age -grades during 2008/09.

U14 1st DIVISION
If Skibbereen dominated the SuperValu U14 Premier League then Clonakilty Town did likewise in the SuperValu U14 1st Division enjoying a remarkable campaign. Town were formed shortly before the beginning of the 2008/09 season but tore through the opposition racking up an incredible 10 consecutive league victories to claim the title in their inaugural campaign. Zein Abholie was Town’s star player of an unforgettable march to the title. Other Clon Town players that impressed included Daniel Laker, Ian Falvey, Mark Crowley and Finbarr Butler. Town’s only league or cup defeat of the season came at home to Skibbereen in the semi final of WCSL U14 Cup in February. Even a 4-1 reversal to the Premier League Champions would fail to prevent Clon Town from going on to claim league honours. Clon Town will provide formidable opposition in next year’s U14 Premiership.

SuperValu WCSL U16 Premier
Skibbereen claimed the 2008/09 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys U16 Premier League title on a dramatic final day of play-off action. The Baltimore Road club edged out Lyre Rovers and Togher Celtic to snatch the title in a nerve-tingling finale to the season.

The final day of the 08/09 SuperValu WCSL U16 Premier League saw Lyre Rovers entertain Togher Celtic and Skibbereen travelling to Schull to face Bunratty. Lyre and Skibb were joint-top of the table so victory for either would all but guarantee the title. Togher still had an outside chance of success provided they gained an unlikely at Lyre and Skibb failed to win.

Rovers began superbly at home to Togher racing into an early 2-0 lead thanks to Ethan Draper and John Leahy strikes. From then on it became nothing short of a nightmare for the hosts. Lyre simply collapsed and conceded 3 second half goals to eventually lose 3-2 decimating their title aspirations. Credit to Togher Celtic who fought back magnificently to win the game thanks to goals from the prolific Declan Coughlan (2) and a late winner from Mark Quinn. The final whistle brought abject frustration for double-chasing Lyre and disappointment for Togher when the final score from Schull filtered through.

Skibbereen’s 3-0 win in Schull sent the Baltimore Road club to the top of the table at 5pm on Saturday the 25th of April, deservedly claiming the 2008/09 U16 Premier League crown. Jason Minihane and a Mark Collins brace earned Skibb their win to end the season on a high following the earlier disappointment of losing the U16 Cup final to Lyre. Skibb’s most impressive performers during their title winning campaign included Mark Collins, Kevin Davis, Rudi Henwood, Brendan Dwyer and Jason Minihane. The Baltimore Road club were the most consistent U16 team of the year despite missing a host of regular first-teamers. Few would bet against Skibb recording a second consecutive title when they begin the defence of the SuperValu U16 Premier League in September

GER MCCCARTHY

SuperValu WCSL Cups

SuperValu WCSL U16 Cup
Lyre Rovers claimed the 2009 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys U16 Cup following an impressive march to the final and made up for the disappointment of losing in the previous seasons decider.

Skibbereen and Lyre Rovers met in a pulsating SuperValu WCSL U16 Cup final on the 4th of April in Mohona, Dunmanway. Skibb entered the final as slight favourites and anxious to atone for defeat to Togher Celtic at the same stage a year previous. Warm sunshine greeted the sides and large crowd in attendance at kick off with the Mohona playing surface in Dunmanway in terrific condition. Both sides played their part in what turned out to be a cracking cup final which ebbed and flowed from the opening minutes.

John Leahy continued his superb run of cup form by breaking the deadlock after 35 minutes following fine approach play from James Hayes. Skibbereen had failed to fire but immediately sprung to life following the concession of Leahy’s goal. Skibb were handed a life-line in the 57th minute with an equaliser from out of nothing. Jack O’Driscoll collected the ball just inside sent a speculative effort all the way into the top corner of the net from just inside his own half to tie a breathtaking final at 1-1. With no further scoring extra time was necessary and James Hayes proved the hero for Lyre with the winning goal courtesy of a terrific Eoin Hartnett through ball. Skibb did all they could to grab a late equaliser but Lyre Rovers held on to deservedly win a truly breathless SuperValu WCSL U16 Cup final 2-1.

SuperValu WCSL U14 Cup
Skibbereen won the 2009 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys U14 Cup to complete a clean sweep of WCSL U14 domestic trophies. Skibb overcame the challenge of a gallant Riverside Athletic 3-1 in the decider to cap a memorable season for the Baltimore Road club.

Brendan Dwyer turned out to be the star of the WCSL U14 Cup final when he produced a magnificent hat-trick to help Skibbereen retain the trophy they won the previous season. Riverside Athletic began confidently and Kevin Davis had to clear an effort off his own line in the opening exchanges. Skibb responded confidently and were it not for the brilliance of Gavin O’Leary in the Riverside goal would have scored at least three times before the interval. The Riverside net-minder produced a succession of world-class saves to keep his side in the game. Skibb were not to be denied and were eventually rewarded for the attacking endeavours when Brendan Dwyer broke the deadlock with a tremendous strike. Riverside Athletic responded superbly and drew level just before the break with Conor O’Neill scoring from the tightest of angles. The second half belonged to Skibbereen with Brendan Dwyer completing his hat-trick with two spectacular strikes.

The first was a volley from the edge of the penalty area and the second a twenty five yard thunderbolt that almost burst the Riverside Athletic net. The Balineen side competed gamely for the remainder of the final but Skibbereen ran out deserving winners to secure the first half of an eventual WCSL U14 league and cup double.



SuperValu WCSL U12 Cup
Skibbereen annexed the 2009 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys U12 Cup following a tremendous run in the competition which saw the Baltimore Road club account for Drinagh Rangers, Riverside Athletic, Bay Rovers and Dunmanway Town to lift the prestigious trophy.

Cannon Crowley Park in Drinagh provided the perfect setting on the 11th of April for the SuperValu WCSL U12 Cup final. A pulsating final ensued which saw Skibb settle quickly and capitalise on some defensive errors to grab an early lead. The opening goal of a tight cup final arrived in the 22nd minute when Colm Fitzgerald pounced on a mistake by the Town defence to finish into an empty net from six yards out. Skibb doubled their advantage right on half time when Conor Nolan netted after another defensive mix-up. Dunmanway Town fought back valiantly and deservedly pulled a goal back shortly after the restart through John Kelly. The remainder of the final saw Dunmanway pummel the Skibbereen goal but the Baltimore Road club held firm and deservedly lifted the WCSL U12 Cup trophy.

2008 / 2009 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys League ROLL OF HONOUR