LAKEWOOD 1999

Fathers and sons together are bringing about a quiet sporting revolution in Ovens. In 1997, with Denis Lucey showing the way, Lakewood Athletic entered their first ever underage side into the Schoolboys League. Incredibly, they now have seven teams competing from Under 11 up to Under 15.




Lucey, an original member of the Lakewood AUL junior side formed in 1981, is not the only founder still going strong in the club. Denis, along with fellow founders Noel Mullins and Joe Dumigan, and Elwyn Moore (a 15 year member), are all prominet at Ovens and each has at least one son playing in the schoolboy teams. Club president John Coleman is another who has been there since the start and his son Trevor lines out with the juniors.



Facilities in Lakewood have been among the best around for many years but recent visitors will have noticed a magnificent fourth pitch, just recently completed at a cost of £7,500. When mature, this will take soon beating.



Donal O'Connor is secretary of the Schoolboys Section; he and his hard-working committee do trojan work for over two hundred boys from the Ovens, Farran, and West Ballincollig areas. They ran a very successful Race Night last year and held their first Annual Golf Classic earlier this month. Thanks must go to the John A. Wood Ltd Sports and Social Club for providing dressing rooms, an all weather surface for winter training, and an indoor hall.



The only requisite for the teams is that they play attacking football as has always been the Lakewood tradition. That policy has already paid off at underage level as the Under 10 team which competed in last year's Southside League won the league and cup double. Now the big hope is that a Schoolboys title will be secured in the near future.



Lakewood Athletic juniors are competing in their 19th season in AUL football. Originally drawn solely from employees of the John A. Wood Ltd, the club opened its doors after two years to counter the effects of redundancies. Many of the current players however work with or have immediate family ties with the company.



Lakewood's first success came in 1985 with the winning of the Third Division League. They also reached the semi-final of the Saxone Cup that year and again in 1987, losing narrowly both times.



Lakewood won the Second Division title in 1991 after a very close fought campaign. The loss of some of their more experienced players weakened the team over the next few years and the club dropped back to the third division.



An influx of young local players greatly improved the playing panel and last season saw Lakewood in the hunt for the championship up to Easter. If this form is maintained, honours will come their way again in the near future.



Mullins, one of the founders, is team manager and club secretary, and Michael Carey, another founder, is his assistant. The current panel is: Daniel Breen, Mark Buckley, Jason Cahill, Paul Coakley, Trevor Coleman, Damien Desmond, James Doyle, Ger Flynn, Robert Holohan, Tim Kelleher (captain), Aidan Lombard, Damien Lordan, Fergus Lordan, Sean Lordan, Eamonn Mitchell, Elwyn Moore, Jason Murphy, Kenneth Murphy, Colm O'Leary, Des O'Leary, and Robert Spillane.





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