North End remain the team to beat
THE WEXFORD Football League returns after the summer break at the weekend, and clubs the length and breadth of the county will be dreaming of collecting silverware after nine months of hard graft.
There’s certainly plenty of trophies up for grabs with eight adult titles to be played for, as well as four youth leagues and the various cup competitions.
The Premier Division looks like it could produce one of the more interesting title-races in recent times, with champions North End United, Moyne Rangers, Shamrock Rovers and Gorey Rangers all fancying their chances of claiming the Holy Grail.
Having won the double last term, North End would have to go into the new season as favourites, particularly after acquiring the services of ex-Waterford F.C. pair, Robin Dempsey and Gary Delaney, while Allen Colgate returns to the club from Kilmore United.
Manager John Godkin is happy with his lot at present, and believes the Sky Blues are in a good position to add to their bulging trophy cabinet.
‘We’ve made a couple of good signings so I’m happy with that. With Paul (Murphy) and Shane (Dempsey) returning last season and young Dylan Owens coming back they’ll be big assets to us as well. At the moment we’re in the good position of having 20 to 22 players pushing for the first team, which will hopefully make our second team strong as well,’ he said.
North End’s Hollygrove pitch on Belvedere Road is undergoing a facelift at the moment, so they’ll have plenty of away days early in the campaign and the jury is out whether it’s a negative or could possibly turn into a positive.
‘We’re going to a have a slight problem at the start of the season as our pitch is under refurbishment at the moment.
‘We’re completely re-draining it and re-sodding it so we’ll probably end up playing a good few games away from home at the beginning of the season. I suppose it could end up working in our favour as well, depending on how things go,’ said Godkin.
When asked who he thinks will pose the biggest threat to them this time around, the North End supremo says potential challengers to their throne will be coming from all angles.
‘Moyne will definitely be there or thereabouts again, Gorey Rangers have strengthened up and they will be very strong this year, and Shamrock Rovers have strengthened as well. I think Corach Ramblers, who have just come up from Division 1, will make an impact too. It’s going to be a very competitive season, which is great for Wexford football,’ he said.
While Godkin would love to see his double-winners retain their crowns, he has a burning ambition for the club really put its name in lights on a national stage.
‘We’ve been in the last five cup finals in a row and it’s a fair achievement. I think the last time we were beaten in the Wexford League was near the end of 2015.
‘We went unbeaten in Wexford last year, so I’d like to think we would be there challenging again, but personally I would like to see us try to push for one of the national titles. Last year were beaten in extra-time by Collinstown and they went on to win the Leinster Junior Cup and we went out on penalties in the FAI Cup, so we weren’t too far away and we’re stronger now,’ he said.
Undoubtedly one of the biggest threats to the domestic dominance of the Wexford town side will be Moyne Rangers, who were pipped at the post in both the league and cup last season.
The Enniscorthy outfit will be missing a number of players due to G.A.A. commitments in the early part of the season, but if they can negotiate that tricky period and come through it unscathed they should be in a strong position to challenge for honours.
Johnny Flynn-O’Connor and Liam Ryan have been added to the squad and Anthony Russell, who has been out with a cruciate injury for the last two seasons, is back in the fold.
Although a cup win would be nice, particularly after the heartache of recent seasons, manager Aidan Browne has his sights firmly set on league success.
‘We’ll be looking to go one better on two fronts this season, particularly the league, that’s definitely our priority.
‘We’ve been knocking on the door for a while. We picked up a lot of points last year, so we’re hoping to improve on that again this time around,’ he said.
Moyne Rangers must surely be sick of the sight of North End at this stage, with United having held the Indian sign over them in recent seasons, and their penalty shoot-out loss in the cup final was the latest is a growing list of heartbreaking defeats.
‘We’re getting used to losing it that way. Since North End beat us in the cup final five years ago, they’re the only team that have actually beaten us in the cup, two semi-finals, two finals and a quarter-final.
‘That’s not a great record to have. Anyway we’ll have to move on,’ said Browne.
Like his rival Godkin, the Moyne boss believes we could be in for an open title-race that may well go down to the wire.
‘Obviously North End will be a big challenge, but Shamrock Rovers and Gorey Rangers seem to have strengthened as well. Gorey could be the surprise package this year,’ he said.
There’s no doubting that an interesting Premier Division campaign lies ahead, but it’s hard to look past the all-conquering North End to add to their title collection.