Having gained promotion last season to 13 Major, this season was all about finding our feet .We set ourselves a target of a mid table finish and our main priority was not to be relegated in a season where the DDSL planned to reduce the numbers in each league from 12 teams per league to 10.

I am glad to say we have achieved our goal for the year. Our league form was won 5 lost 4 and a crazy 11 draws . We also had a good showing in both cup competitions only losing to out Premier opposition. Confey got the fright of there lives when we went within 7 minutes of knocking them in the 5th round of the All Ireland Cup finally losing out in extra time. Stella Maris (cup finalists) left it late to secure their win in the cup quater final ,somthing which did not go unnoticed by other premier managers ,we are gaining a reputation as a team that are hard to beat.

Going forward next season we are building a team who will be able to compete at premier level, it is our intention to win the Under 14 Major league and earn our place in the Under 15 Premier a target we set ourselves 2 years ago and well within our reach with the core group of players we currently have .We hope to strenghten the team in the closed season,a number of our second team players are serious contenders for places when we hold our trial at the end of the season.

If you are with another club and you think you have what it takes to win a place in this team contact Noel O`Donoghue at 086-2441136 for times and dates of trials,players with ambitions of playing U15 Premier DDSL should seriously consider Malahide United Under 14 Major as way to get there.

Following our trials we hope to bring a squad of approx 20 players to play in the Dublin Cup and possibly the Mardike Cup in Cork,from this squad a panel of 15 will be selected.

This team is going places have you got what it takes to join them ?

Noel O`Donoghue.

The draw Specialists strike again
© Ruairi Carberry 1/10/05

Celbridge 0-0 Malahide United

The newly promoted Under 13 Major DDSL team notched up their fifth draw away to Celbrigde on Saturday. The lads have been hard to beat following away draws with St Joseph's and WFTA, a home draw with Leicester Celtic and only losing away to St Kevin's with the last kick of the game.

Malahide travelled to Kildare today to face a Celbridge team who were promoted with Malahide as league leaders. Celbridge also beat Malahide 3-1 in last seasons Cup final so there was plenty for motivation for Malahide. However Malahide strengthened the team in the pre season and had high hopes of giving Celbridge a tougher game.

Malahide have been plagued with early season injuries which has seen Brian Doyle out for the next two months with ankle ligament damage, Mark Barry sidelined with shin problems but they were happy to see Conor Heffernan back between the sticks after missing the last two games.

The match kicked off at 1pm on a rainy and blustery day and there were no real chances in the first few minutes but the mid field battle was just heating up with tackles flying in. Celbridge had an early corner but they could not create anything from it.

After fifteen minutes a Celbridge mid fielder played a slick through ball which was cut out by Malahide defender Ciaran Finnegan. On twenty minutes Celbridge made a substitution when they brought on their No 9. The Celbridge hit man caused many teams problems last season with his pace and has been on the score sheet already this season. The Malahide tactics had been discussed before the match and central defender Ciaran Finnegan was ear marked to man mark the Celbridge attacker. The plan worked well as Finnegan had a superb game and kept the Celbridge striker down to only one half chance in the whole game.

The second half kicked off with Celbridge playing with the wind and an early corner caused problems for Malahide. The corner was a beautiful in swinger and Conor Heffernan struggled to judge the flight. The ball struck the post but was scrambled away by the Malhide defence.

The game continued to be played ain mid field with neither side creating any real chances. On forty minutes Malahide brought on Mark Barry for David Shevlin and Adam Coughlin for Stephen Donnelly. This left Robbie Brady free to move up to centre forward and the big mid fielder's height and strength caused Celbridge some problems.

The best chance of the game eventually fell to Malahide with five minutes left. Mark Purcell broke free from a great pass down the left by Shane Gallagher. The striker took the ball on at pace and drew the keeper. Robbie Brady had made a great run through the middle and all Purcell had to do was slip the ball inside but the Celbridge keeper was sharp and bravely smothered the ball.

The game ended 0-0 and Malahide picked up another valuable point on the road. The under 13's are still awaiting their first win but having been promoted to the Major are proving to be very organised and competitive having taken points off of four of the top teams in the division.

Ruairi Carberry
1st Oct 2005.