League Champions Presentation (Pictures Eamon Scott)

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE that a journey which began on a Monday night in Sallynoggin in September 2002 and ended on a Saturday morning in Templeogue in May 2005 could end with 3 successive League Titles and one Cup BUT IT'S TRUE.

Dicey's nippers have done him prod. As 5 yr old babies they stood out ,he knew them by name .... Taylor , Heffernan , McNulty, O'Connell, Byrne, Cashin ,Walsh,Williams,Synnott and Porter.

Great teams have Great goalkeepers and with Mcnulty between the sticks the lads were in safe hands. Natural defenders Heffo, Williams and Scotty the engine room of Cashin, Taylor, Synnott and Walsh the silky skills of
O'Connell and the sweet left foot of Byrne soon became a formidable unit. That first season ended with the League and Cup double, the Clubs first Dublin District Schoolboys Honours. Captain Brian Heffernan proudly held the Teddy Johnson Cup aloft after Hat-trick hero Conor Synnott had inspired the team to a 5-2 victory over Ballyfermot in John Hyland Park on May 25th 2003.The famous day was captured in great colour by the Evening Herald with one special photo now proudly displayed in Gannon Park.

The new season saw the introduction of Eoin Hamill and Jamie Walsh. The standard was improving but the lads responded to every challenge. The second League title was secured with a comprehensive victory over Stella Maris in Gannon Park. Lourdes Celtic in Dalymount Park was all that stood between a second League and Cup Double. Both teams put on a great display of open football to leave it 2 - 2 at full time. A huge support from Malahide couldn't roar us to victory as Lourdes snatched a late winner for a narrow but deserved victory. This defeat, although hard, was a great learning curve and has stood to the lads since.

Halfway through that second season Brendan and myself realised that to go to the next level we needed a new independent voice, we had no massive pay deal to offer just ten young lads with huge potential and a growing
reputation.We wanted someone passionate about football. Someone steeped in football tradition and someone capable of bringing us to the next level. Our new Coach Eamon Scott fitted the Bill perfectly.

Change is always hard but to progress to the next level we had to make tough decisions and new players Sean and Jack Nolan arrived as the panel was restructured for our final season playing 7 a side. An opening day defeat to Stella Maris in Gannon Park was followed by 17 wins and 2 draws resulting in a third successive league title.
A heart breaking 1-0 defeat to St Josephs in the cup semi final meant a third cup final appearance was denied.

As we move on to 9 a side football for one year I firmly believe that this team has something special and to quote Eamon ' if we can become an importing club rather than an exporting club ' anything is possible. Malahide United's first FOUR DUBLIN DISTRICT SCHOOLBOY TITLES have being won by 14 young lads who now take there place in the History of this Club. I applaud them all for the part they played in this Journey and hope there achievments will inspire our nippers for years to come.

Joe Cashin
A Proud Manager