The Western front
December 30, 2009At the start of the year they lost a number of experienced players to retirement while two of their biggest names, Clint Sweeney and Trevor Baylon, opted out of playing after having a proposed transfer to neighbours Glyde Rangers declined for the second year running.
That meant that the Westerns took to the field this season with a largely young and inexperienced side, while the uncertainty that surrounded them in the early stages meant that they started back training that bit later than most other clubs.
Having said that, the Reaghstown side gave a good account of themselves in 2009 and while the results not always made for the kindest of reading, the performances were a lot better than the scorelines suggested.
Under the guidance of joint managers Willie Martin and Hugh Brennan, as well as trainer Gerry Sheridan, the Westerns produced a solid campaign. It might not have yielded the winning runs that brought them to Junior finals in 2003, 2005 and 2006 but it was an invaluable 12 months in terms of rebuilding the foundations.
Those sentiments are backed up by chairman Hughie O'Neill, who feels the club will look back upon 2009 as a beneficial one having come through a very testing campaign.
"The results tell their own story about what went on on the pitch but the fact we lost those two players (Sweeney and Baylon) had a big impact on our season," said O'Neill.
"They were two very good players for us and if losing them wasn't so bad we also had quite a few retirements to contend with as well. We had three retirements as well as the two boys leaving so that was a third of our team gone. I think in junior football that'll hurt anyone, particularly when they're five big players for you as well.
"Having said all that Gerry Sheridan did a good job training the team and the numbers were there right throughout the year.
"I think one of our biggest problems though was that we started training late enough and we only maybe had three or four sessions done by the time the league was starting. That meant that we were facing an uphill battle straight away but I think as the season went on our performances improved.
"The encouraging thing was that, although the results weren't always in our favour, it wasn't for a lack of endeavour or effort on the part of our lads and that can only be encouraging for the future," said the chairman.
The Westerns' season started off with a 2-7 to 0-13 draw with St Kevin's at home in the Kevin Mullen Shield and although they lost each of their remaining matches to the Sean McDermotts, the Wolfe Tones, Stabannon Parnells, Lannleire and St Mochta's they could at least take heart from the fact that they put up a good showing in each of them.
Unfortunately, things didn't improve a great deal at the start of the league. After receiving a bye in the first round, they went down to St Kevin's on a 3-5 to 0-6 scoreline in Philipstown before losing out to neighbours Annaghminnon Rovers in their opening home game by 0-8 to 0-4.
After that the championship begun but for the Westerns, their campaign was almost as good as over before it had started as they went down to the Glen Emmets on a 2-13 to 0-6 scoreline in Ardee before losing their second match to St Mochta's by 1-19 to 0-7.
To add insult to injury, the Westerns then conceded to Dowdallshill in their next league game at the end of May and at that stage it looked like it really would be a year to forget.
Then the Reaghstown men turned things around slightly, showing a renewed spirit that can only bode well for the future.
Pitted against local rivals the Sean McDermotts in Darver, they were right in the game the whole way, going off level at the break and trailing by just 2-9 to 3-4 in injury-time before ultimately losing out on the rather harsh scoreline of 3-10 to 3-4.
Still, the display boosted the Westerns and they went on to win their next three games on the hop - recording league wins over the Wolfe Tones (3-9 to 0-7) and the John Mitchels (3-9 to 2-10) either side of a championship win over neighbours Annaghminnon Rovers on a 1-12 to 1-9 scoreline.
A league defeat in mid-July to Hunterstown ended that sequence and after they went down to Lannleire in their closing championship match, their campaign became largely irrelevant with nothing other than pride to play for.
There have been better campaigns by the Westerns in recent years but according to O'Neill, the club has taken great heart from their mid-summer purple patch that better times are around the corner once more.
"That was a good wee spell for us," said Hugh.
"We sort of looked at it as a reassurance point in the year that we could compete because in a lot of games we were just that one step behind the other teams.
"We had a bad start though and when you're being beaten in every game the confidence does go down. They did get fit though and the McDermotts game, even though we lost it, lifted the whole thing and gave us something to take into the next few games.
"We never dreamt of winning anything this year but the season was a valuable year's experience under some of the young lads' belts. We've a young enough team at the moment and geographically we're confined to quite a small area so we wouldn't have the biggest of picks in the county.
"Having said that the effort and commitment this year was brilliant and some of the young lads really came of age. Andrew Murray was a prime example of someone who stood up and showed he's a really talented player.
"All in all we're not down in the mouth about anything. A transition was probably the best way to describe this year.
"We got a response and a commitment right through the year that didn't get the results it deserved on the field but if we get that every year then that will be brilliant because they're young lads and they're improving all the time.
"Going into next year, the lads are a year older and a year more experienced and if we get off to the right start in 2010 then anything can happen because confidence has a lot to do with it."
Another reason for O'Neill and the Westerns to be confident about the future is the performance of some of their underage sides this year.
"We had a good year at underage level. The U-13s reached a league final against Hunterstown that was never played while the U-14s won Division Two of their league for the second year in-a-row and reached the championship semi-finals.
"We also had six on the Baile Talun minor team this year so that all bodes well for the future.
"It's very important to invest in youth and we're hopeful that some of those young lads will make the breakthrough with the senior team in the coming years as that's the only way forward for a club like ourselves.
"Some of those minors will be hoping to make the step up to adult football next season and they'll give the thing a big injection hopefully."
Off the field the Westerns continued to make progress also with a new training ground completed this year and plans already afoot for more improvements at their grounds.
"We've just completed the training ground and we hope to have it in use by next spring for our juvenile football and for adult training.
"The committee that is there at the moment are very progressive and now that we've got the juvenile pitch completed we're going to try and get proper floodlighting installed so that we can play games under lights.
"I think long term we might also look to do something with the clubrooms to try and keep up to date with things but all in all everything is moving in the right direction."
Some of the Westerns' big guns might have left earlier this year but there's plenty of people remaining putting in the work to ensure the club will be firing on all cylinders for some time to come.
The club might have taken a step back slightly this year but in the long run, the Westerns are a club certainly moving in the right direction. Tweet
