Competing in the Brenfer 10A division, we knew this was going to be a very challenging season. However, with the lads having won the Brenfer 9A Cup last season, we were optimistic that we could make a genuine challenge for the league title this season.

The lads had prepared very well in pre-season playing 6 games, winning 5 and drawing 1. However the real test lay ahead with the commencement of the very competitive 10A division.

Our first league game was away to newly promoted St Mochtas. We made a fairly shaky start but ended up comfortable 3-0 winners. A fine hat trick from Rory Boland certainly helped to settle those nerves. Our first home game saw us come up against another one of the newly promoted teams, St Columbans Boys. This turned out to be a really tough affair. We took an early lead only for Columbans to fight back to take a 2-1 lead. The scoreline remained this way until, with the last kick of the game, Kevin O'Flynn scored a tremendous free kick to earn us a 2-2 draw. There then followed a 4-1 victory away to the third of the newly promoted teams, Rivervalley Rangers. The highlight of this game was the debut goal of the newest addition to our squad, Alan O'Hara. Three matches played - 2 wins and a draw secured - a very good start to the league campaign but we knew tougher tests lay ahead.

The next visitors to Malahide Castle were our near neighbours Baldoyle United. Do you ever get a bad feeling about a game? Well I had a bad feeling about this one. I felt we were a better team than Baldoyle but I sensed a little bit of over confidence was creeping in. Unfortunately my fears proved justified - Baldoyle ran out 3-0 winners. We had one of those days where everything went wrong and can have no complaints about the result. Our first defeat had been inflicted. It was vital that we bounced straight back but who was up next for us only our old friends Belgrove FC. Every since we started playing 7-a-side football, we have had fantastic matches against Belgrove. Belgrove have won the U7, U8 and U9 league titles. They have always been the team to beat in Brenfer and we have always played superbly well against them but never really got much luck. Well that was soon to change. Belgrove had gone through the previous season unbeaten in the league and had started this campaign with 3 straight victories. We managed to beat them 2-1 in a thrilling match. I have to say that this was the best team performance from the lads so far, in a game in which they showed everyone their true potential. This great form was carried into the next game, an away fixture against Swords Rovers. We won this game 4-2 aided by a brace from Shane Brennan. So there we sat proudly on top of the division with Belgrove just one point behind.

At the beginning of November, the Brenfer league decided to re-format all the 7-a-side leagues. The net effect of this was to reduce our league to 6 teams with the bottom 2 teams moving down to the 'A1' league. Before we began the league all over again, we had the small matter of this year's Cup competition to begin. The first round draw paired us with St Mochtas. We played very well over both legs, winning 4-1 away with Rory Boland again scoring a hat trick and 4-0 at home with this time Mark Hughes scoring a hat trick. This qualified us for the group stages and hopefully another good Cup run.

Would you believe it but our first opponents in the new re-formatted league were Belgrove. Belgrove came out that Saturday really determined to avenge their earlier 2-1 defeat. They appeared to want the game more than us and ran out 2-0 winners. This was an awful turnaround from our point of view - only a couple of weeks ago we were sitting pretty on top of the league - now we found ourselves propping up the newly re-formatted league. This was really going to be a test for us.

We only had one more game before the Christmas break - an away fixture against Baldoyle. This proved to be a reversal of our loss to Belgrove - Baldoyle had inflicted our only defeat in the old league and had started the new league extremely well. However we were out for revenge and were determined to come away with 3 points. We found ourselves down to the bare 7 players very early on as a result of illness and injury. The team were magnificent and, led by Conor Ryan and Ciaran Callaghan, we ground out a 3-2 victory. We were now back in the hunt.

After the Christmas break, we started back with 2 group cup matches. The first match was away to Dunshaughlin Youths and we came away with a 2-0 victory on a pitch that was, in my opinion, unplayable. The next week we entertained Ashbourne United and ran away 5-0 victors (our biggest victory of the season so far). As a result of these two victories, we had now qualified for the semi-finals of the Cup. Could we repeat last year's wonderful experience and go all the way? For the time being it was back to the league.

Unfortunately, the weather really took hold and it was the beginning of March before we got to play again. Columbans were the visitors and we knew to expect a tough game. However, I think none of us ever expected what was to happen next. To cut a long story short, Columbans beat us 8-1 and I'm still trying to come to terms with it. We have never experienced anything like this before. They say the sign of a great team is how they react to adversity - the task now facing Ger and myself was to quickly pick the lads up and get back on track.

Next up, wait for it, Belgrove away. Once again, Belgrove brought the best out of us. We again played tremendously well winning on a scoreline of 2-1. That's two victories over Belgrove in one season. It simply serves to prove my belief that, on our day, we can beat anyone.

Next up was an away game against Swords Rovers. We started the game really well and were leading 3-1 at half time. However, our second half performance was not one of our best and we allowed Swords back into the game, finishing in a very disappointing 3-3 draw. Unfortunately for us, this was to prove to be the start of a pretty bad run of form. Our 3-3 draw away to Swords was quickly followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Baldoyle and a 1-0 defeat at home to Swords. The league was starting to get away from us with both Belgrove and Columbans opening up a healthy lead. We stopped the rot with a very hard earned 2-1 away to Castleknock Celtic. This win put us up to third behind both Belgrove and Columbans. Belgrove confirmed the league title with back-to-back victories over Columbans. However, a win in our second last game away to Columbans would be enough to secure runners-up spot with a game to spare. Before that game there was the small matter of a cup semi final away to the newly crowned champions Belgrove.

This season, Belgrove and ourselves had met 3 times with us coming out on top 2 to 1. This was to be the biggest test of all but one that we were all looking forward to. The support on the night was tremendous and the performance of the lads was brilliant. Belgrove got a very fortunate deflected goal in the first half to send them in at halftime 1-0 up. We were playing well and started the second half with gusto. We were finding the Belgrove defence very hard to get past and when we did we were being thwarted by some very good goalkeeping. We had to push but all to no avail. Belgrove prevailed 1-0 and our disappointment was immense - so near but yet so far. Belgrove are a very good team and we wished them the very best for the final. As for our own lads, the played fantastically well and can take great pride in their part they played in a tremendous semi final.

And so, to our penultimate league fixture, away to Columbans. The maths were quite simple - a Columbans victory, in what was their last match, would secure runners-up spot for them - a Malahide victory would secure the runners-up spot for us with a game to spare. The stakes couldn't be higher for what had now turned into another pressurised fixture. One thing that I have learned about this current bunch of players is that they never know when to quit and when the pressure is really on, they usually come up trumps. This match turned out to be no different. An early goal by David O'Carroll gave us the ideal start and, under very difficult circumstances, we came away with a superb 4-2 victory.

What a season. We have finished runners-up in the Brenfer 10A league and I am absolutely delighted that the lads have something to show for their incredible efforts. I am absolutely trilled and delighted with the way things have turned out. The effort and commitment of the players and the tremendous support from the parents and families have made this season one that I will remember for a long time. Well done to everyone. You can be extremely proud of what you have achieved.