Mernagh fires Village to victory Nobody could touch Rathnew
Celebrations begin as history made
THE elusive Noble Waste Premier Shield crown was the first to be captured by Rathnew AFC in the magical year of 1998 for the Village side when they defeated St. Patrick’s by a single goal on Sunday, May 3, in the Carlisle Grounds.
The late goal from Mark Doyle who also picked up the man of the match award was what separated the sides in the end and secured Rathnew’s very first Premier Shield title in the club’s history and was the first of four titles on the wish list for Tony Jameson and his talented squad.
It was back to the Carlisle Grounds then for their Wicklow Cup final showdown with neighbours Wicklow Town and Barry Mernagh’s strike proved the difference as Jameson’s men wrote their names into the history books as the first team to ever win four titles on the trot.
There wasn’t a whole lot of time to take a breath and appreciate those two wonderful moments for Rathnew as it was on to Ferndale Park for the Charlie Bishop Cup final against Arklow Town B.
Goals from Trevor and Mark Doyle at the beginning and end of the match secured Rathnew’s 11th trophy in four years and was the third crown of four as their grip on the Premier League was also looking incredibly ominous.
This was Rathnew’s third successive Charlie Bishop Cup crown having toppled Gorey Rangers and Arklow United in the two previous deciders and it seemed that the Shamrock Park men were unstoppable with confidence sky high and belief coursing through their veins.
Two fine saves from Robert Hollingsworth from Glen Dowling and Alan McBride helped Rathnew to gather their thoughts and a flick on from Shay Cullen saw Trevor Doyle hold off a defender, swivel and shoot with a clever clipped effort past the advancing Peter Dempsey for the opening goal.
It was Trevor Doyle’s 54th goal in all competitions and he could have had a hat-trick in that first half had he taken all his chances.
Arklow Town battled their way back into this game but Rathnew were not going to be beaten and when Mark ‘Soup’ Doyle fired home superbly to the roof of Dempsey’s net having been picked out by Trevor it was game over, and three down, one to go!
And then the final piece of the jigsaw was confirmed when Rathnew were presented with the Premier trophy ahead of their league clash with Newtown United at Merrymeeting.
‘Premier crown completes a clean sweep for all-conquering Rathnew’ roared the headline on the front page of the sport section while ‘Rathnew’s record may never be equalled’ could be found on the bottom of the back page.
The Premier trophy was Rathnew’s 12th in four years, a truly staggering achievement by any standard.
Trevor Doyle was presented with the player of the year trophy that was sponsored by People Newspapers. He scored 33 goals in 18 league matches and finished an eye-watering 19 goals ahead of his nearest rivals in league competition in terms of goals scored.
Rathnew manager Tony Jameson was presented with the Personality of the Year award ahead of the game with Newtown by Michael Conlon, the then secretary of the Wicklow League.
Captain of Rathnew’s league campaign, Don Doyle, was presented with the Premier trophy by Jim McLoughlin.
The full Rathnew squad: Robert Hollingsworth, James Quinn, Jason Doyle, Mark Doyle, Don Doyle, Eamon Franey, Robert Doyle, Mick McDonald, Casey O’Brien, Barry Mernagh, Anthony Mernagh, Shay Cullen, Trevor Doyle, Sean O’Brien, Anthony Doyle, Chris ‘Nipper’ Sillery, Robert Merrigan, Eamonn White and Tommy Murphy.
The team were managed by Tony Jameson with Shay Brennan as assistant manager.