Holders Dundalk exit Barton Cup
FROM THE ARCHIVES: 20 YEARS AGO...
HOLDERS Dundalk make their exit from the Barton Cup as County Louth wins 3-2.
Manager Patsy Cole is forced to reconstruct the team. Not one of the pairings which won the Cup in September after a lapse of 47 years is eligible to play together.
Alan Cole lines up with debutant John Conlon, while Peter Tuite is paired with another first-timer in the event Paul McParland.
Tuite and McParland win comfortably, as do Bernie White and Paddy Purton.
Cole and Conlon lose to Kitt Doggett and Paddy O’Sullivan; while Leslie Toal and John McQuillan, and Dermot Murphy and Martin Duffy also come off second best.
Martin Murray steps back into management just one week after resigning as boss of Crusaders.
He returns to Oriel Park to take over from Terry Eviston.
A double winner with the Lilywhites as a player, Murray moves quickly when his appointment is confirmed to sign Martin Reilly to a two-year deal.
The new manager reveals he is driving through Dundalk on his way to Belfast to tender his resignation when he hears on the radio of Eviston’s departure.
‘I considered turning the car around and coming up to the club to see if anyone was around,’ he adds.
The first green shoots of grass break through the freshly-laid topsoil on Seán O’Mahony’s pitch.
However, by the time the Point Road-based club plays its first game on the field next year, it will be more than 18 months since a ball was kicked in competitive action at home.
‘It’s been a difficult time, not just for the senior team, but for every team down to the U-13s who have had to train and play matches away from the Point Road,’ says secretary Pat O’Brien.
However, the improvements are a must as the ground had been prone to regular flooding. It has been raised six feet in some sections.