Gartland ‘Well’ chuffed with new signing Murphy
NEWFOUNDWELL have turned to former League of Ireland star Alan Murphy (pictured) in a bid to steer them to a first-ever NEFL Premier crown, after finishing runners-up in each of the last two seasons.
With the new season kicking off this weekend, ‘Well boss Danny Gartland has signed the 39-year-old Drogheda native after his old club Navan Cosmos surprisingly pulled out of the league a fortnight ago.
Paddy O’Boyle and Ryan Connor (both Boyne Harps) and Helder Mota and Kenny Hurley (both Black Bull) are also newcomers and Cormac Reid and Ian Devine have returned to the club, giving Gartland a strong hand in his pursuit of the holy grail.
‘Pre-season has gone grand and Alan Murphy made his debut the other night and showed he has still got the cleverness.
‘He is nearly another manager out on the pitch - he never stops talking, even in the training matches, and he is just what we need to see out games.
‘We will be there or thereabouts, that’s for sure, and it’s the same with the Tully Cup and the FAI Junior - but the league is the bread and butter and it’s just about getting across the line this year.’
Gartland expressed sympathy with fellow manager Pat Mohan whose Black Bull team - promoted from Division 1 - last week became the second Premier club to withdraw in advance of the new season.
Newfoundwell have begun planning for the long term, with Michael O’RourkeRourke overseeing trainingng for Under-8s andd 9s at Little Wembley where theree has been a great turnout in the first couple of weeks.
The honour of kicking off the Premier Division campaign goes to
Boyne Harps as they welinwelcome last season’s First Division champions OMP to United Park on Thursday.
Harps themselves beat Ardee Celtic 1-0 to stay up, but Shane Gregory - in his first full seasonin charge - has retained just six pla players and he atteattempts to put his owown stamp on thin things.
O One of them, Jam James Traynor, is tthe new ca captain, while inc incoming players ers include ex Drog Drogheda United midfie midfielder Austin McCann (from Glebe North), goalkgoalkeeper Bryan Smith, Chris McDonnell, Eoin Murdock, Micheal Matthews and Chris Culligan.
Former Drogheda Town and Boyne Harps boss Pete Brennan recently took charge of Duleek and they will be attempting to steer clear of a relegation scrap, first and foremost.
Brennan has brought in the experienced James Guilfoyle and Matthew Noone (Albion Rovers) as well as Aaron Kenna from Drogheda United U-19s, and a few members of last season’s Premier Reserve-winning team will make the step up.
Completing the line-up of local teams in the top flight are Ardee Celtic who were only promoted as a result of Navan Cosmos’ withdrawal, and with so little time to prepare for top-flight football their manager Conor Lynch is looking for nothing more than ‘consolidation’.
However, he insisted that the club welcomed the opportunity to play at this level, and with Bellurgan United duo Ciaran Clarke and Darren Gaynor signed up, along with ex Dromin United centre-half Karl Martin, they won’t be short on experience.
Champions Muirhevnamor are likely to make a strong defence of their title, while the Premier Division’s other competing teams for 2017/18 are Bellurgan United, Trim Celtic, Quay Celtic, OMP United and Kingscourt Harps.