League winners
December 30, 2010Latton O'Rahillys will look back on the 2010 season with mixed emotions after a season that saw them enjoy success on the field of play, but on the down side they said goodbye to one of their favourite adopted sons.
Popular manger, Davy Nelson, may have decided to move on after three years with the club but not before leaving Latton with a fitting farewell present, having led them to the Senior League title.
It was a satisfying end to a term that saw manager and club enjoy three very successful seasons, and on a personal level for Davy, it proved to be an experience where the sense of fulfilment went beyond the football field.
Although he will be returning to his native Navan O'Mahonys for the coming year, the Meath man will leave with fond memories of his time in Latton where he has made many friends.
"The League final was my last game in charge of the senior team and it was a nice way to end as I have had three great years here.
"I arrived in 2008 and we won the championship that season, while last year we got to the final only to be beaten. This year we came back and won the Senior League so is has been a very successful time for the club," he revealed.
Davy, who also has spells as manager with Stabannon Parnells in Louth, Gowna in Cavan, his home club and the Meath U-21s is going back to his roots with the Navan team but leaves Latton with the highest regard for the club.
"I really have had the time of my life in Latton and there is no doubt that success helps, but it really is a wonderful club. In every GAA club you will find really good GAA people, but Latton just seem to have more of them at all levels.
"Over the past three years I have made great friends that will last for life and I leave with memories that I will carry forever.
"Latton were best known as a Junior club for a long time, but really arrived as a force since the Millennium while they have also made great progress off the field. There are fantastic facilities at the club in terms of social and recreation and it is brilliant for a rural club to have such a complex
"A lot of work and fundraising has gone into it and I suppose it helps when you have success on the field as raising money becomes a bit easier and more people want to be involved," he explained.
Davy has clearly gained a lot form his experience in Monaghan, but equally he has given a lot to a club that had high expectations when he arrived.
"I came here at the start of the 2008 season and it was brilliant to win the championship in my first year. We almost retained the title but lost to Clontibret in the decider the following year, so at the beginning of this campaign we were determined to give it another shot."
However, it didn't work out as planned as the team's impressive league form deserted them in the championship where they made a surprisingly early exit, having lost to both Scotstown and Carrickmacross Emmets.
"I think we were the first team out of the Senior Championship as we lost to Carrickmacross at the end of August. That was a big surprise but on the day we simply didn't play well and they deserved to win.
"It certainly is strange how things work out because after that game we didn't lose for the rest of the season, while Carrick didn't win again and ended up being relegated.
"Losing that game was a big blow for us but we regrouped and decided to give it a real shot in the league. We knew we weren't a bad team and we had a chance to win the league if we kept our heads.
"It is hard to know what went wrong on the day as I felt we prepared well for the game but were just caught on the hop. Thankfully we recovered well and it is good to finish the year with a trophy and a nice way to end my time with the club," explained Davy.
Latton finished a very competitive league campaign with ten wins and four draws from the 19 games, leaving them in second place behind Magheracloone.
In the semi-final they overcame Monaghan Harps by two points before finishing the season on a high with victory over Magheracloone in the League final.
The manager also believes that the success of this year should not only be measured in terms of silverware but also in terms of the current state of the club as he believes they have a very bright future with a good crop of young players coming through.
"If anybody had seen us playing against Carrickmacross in the Championship they would have said we are a team on the slide. Although we were poor on the night we said to ourselves that we had made too much of an effort to give up.
"We proved our ability by winning every league game since and I really believe there is a lot more to come from this team.
"At the start of the year, one of my briefs was to integrate the emerging players who had been Minors the previous year into the senior team and in truth that was a relatively easy task. In the League final we had five 19-year-olds playing and two on the subs bench, and they are not just bit players but are central to the team and playing in pivotal positions.
"Not only that, but they are great lads and it was brilliant for them to enjoy the success of a league title as it will help bring them on. There is no doubt that this team has a bright future and I am delighted to be able to leave them in such a healthy state," continued Davy.
In 2010, Nelson has seen the club make their mark on a national stage with impressive displays in the Kilmacud Crokes Sevens competition, while Brendan Lennon won a national skills competition.
"We travelled to Kilmacud for the All-Ireland Sevens and that proved to be a very enjoyable and successful experience as we reached the quarter-final. Competition is always intense and it was good to reach that stage, while the game was also shown on TG4.
"Meanwhile, Brendan Lennon won €10,000 in the Skills Challenge against none other than Alan Brogan which was a brilliant boost for the club. So when you add up Brendan's success with the display in Kilmacud and add in a League title, it really has been a very successful year for Latton," added Davy, who will be remembered fondly for his time at the club.
SFL final: Second half display brings league crown to Latton
It was a bitter deja vu for Magheracloone's Tomas Freeman when he stepped up to take a penalty in the final minute of this exciting senior football league final in Corduff as he was cruelly denied from the spot for the second time in a final this year. A penalty that would have seen his side snatch victory in the dying seconds of the senior football championship final back on October 10th was stopped on the line by Clontibret keeper Paul McElroy but this time it was the woodwork intervened with Freeman's spot kick cannoning off the crossbar with five points between the sides going into stoppage time. To their credit though they did not let the setback crush them and they rallied for a goal and a point in injury time, Tomas Freeman rifling home from close range to bring the margin down to the minimum but ultimately time ran out and Latton were winners by the minimum margin. Magheracloone had been the more dominant team in the opening half and deservedly led by three points at half-time, 0-6 to 0-3 but Latton were a transformed team in the second-half. They had the margin down to the minimum within seven minutes of the restart and the then struck for the first of their two goals with a brilliant finish from Owen Duffy in the ninth minute. Entering the final 10 minutes just two points separated the sides with Latton then striking for their second goal when Bernard O'Brien finished well after excellent work by Kieran Duffy to leave five points between the sides and the game building to a frenetic finish with Latton holding out for a 2-8 to 1-10 victory that overall their second half performance deserved.
Latton - Sean Farmer, Paul Fitzpatrick, Eddie Lennon, Eoghan Coyle, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Kieran Duffy, Dermot O'Brien, Stephen McElroy, Aidan Farmer 0-1, Hughie Lennon, Owen Duffy 1-0, Bernard O'Brien 1-2, Shane Coyle 0-1, Owen Lennon 0-1, Hugh McElroy 0-3 (3f). Subs - Kevin Hughes for S Fitzpatrick, Niall Traynor for H Lennon, Ruairi Ward for D O'Brien, Brendan Lennon for S Coyle. Tweet
