Devine’s 3F ton-up Mac Seconds were a 1st class side

OVER the last ten years of Match on Tuesday, Immaculata have had their fair share of coverage be it for their early Junior Cup successes or when blazing a trail through the Amateur League divisions.

However, in the issue of February 17, 2009 it wasn’t Kevin Lawlor’s men who were hitting the headlines but rather Gerard Devine’s second team.

And, in what was their first season in 3F, the Mac second string were proving themselves unstoppable in front of goal – a 10-0 drubbling of a strong Kelvin OB reserve team taking their goal tally for the season to 107 – the all-important 100th of the season from David Mccann being caught on camera by our photographer Gerard Smyth.

Their double-figure victory came off the back of their only defeat of the season two weeks earlier against Holywood Rec, a result that really annoyed the players.

“Two weeks ago the boys were absolutely crestfallen after their 3-2 defeat by Holywood Rec – especially since they had been 2-0 up in the game,” said Devine at the time.

“But the making of a good team isn’t about not getting beat – it is about how you respond to getting beat.

“It was a kick up the backside for them, and unfortunately for Kelvin they were on the wrong end of their frustrations,”

As for the man who reached the all-important 100-goal milestone, the part he played in the occasion would have gone over his head but for our Match photographer.

“When we got the second goal the photographer shouted over, ‘The next goal is the 100th.’ But when I scored it, my mind went blank, and I think the rest of the players had forgotten about it too,” said Mccann.

“Then I looked over at the crowd on the sidelines going mad, and I realised what had just happened.”

Incredibly, it was the 25-yearold’s only contribution on the day, but surely the most cherished of all the 27 he had netted for the club thus far – a tally you would have thought would have marked him out as the team’s highest scorer – not so, as a certain midfielder call John Boyce had 31 under his belt.

Not surprisingly first team boss Lawler was delighted with the strength in depth at his club,.

“The Amateur League doesn’t know what’s hit it. We were an unknown quantity before this season, but now even the big boys are starting to look over their shoulders,” boasted a confident Lawlor.

“It is an excellent achievement for the Seconds and I have said it before, that most of those players could walk into the first team – that’s why they took 3F by storm.”