LAKEWOOD NOV 2001

MANY HANDS MAKE LAKEWOOD WORK




Sunday morning is usually a busy time at the Lakewood complex in Ovens. The juniors are normally playing on pitch number one. Another of the four pitches is more than likely staging a schoolboy game while on the adjacent pitches scores of boys and girls are being coached by club members.



Lakewood are lucky in that they have no shortage of volunteers. There are currently over twenty members on the Lakewood General committee. The officers are: Denis Lucey (Chairman), Finbarr O’Sullivan (Vice Chairman), Donal O’Connor (Secretary) and Eddie Doyle (Treasurer).



The pitches at Lakewood are among the best in the league and the training facilities are also situated there. The juniors, who play in AUL 3, train in Lakewood on Thursdays. Training commences at 7.30 on the grass training area and they then transfer to the synthetic pitch at 8.00. A new all weather training pitch is being constructed and then training will be increased to twice weekly.



Noel Mullins, a founder of the club, heavily involved in the schoolboys section and currently joint manager (with Mick Carey) of the juniors, says the main focus for the season must be to gain promotion. "Over the next few years we hope to have a very good crop of young players coming through from our schoolboy teams. It is our hope to offer them competitive football at a higher level than we are currently playing."



"Our success at schoolboys level is very encouraging and with two different teams reaching the semi-final and final of national cup competitions in the last two seasons, hopes for our future look very good. In the longer term, we would hope to progress up through the divisions and hopefully to have at least three junior and two youth teams in the not too distant future."



The current sponsors of the junior side are National Irish Bank. Other club sponsors include Aaltonen Removals, Blackwater Motors, IFG Mortgages, Jim Bob’s (Ovens), John A. Wood Ltd, McNamara’s Super Value, O’Leary’s Lissarda, SynthiGreen, and System Designs.



Lakewood juniors started the season with a large panel. All of last year’s players re-signed and five new signings were added. The latter are very young players who had just finished playing Youth football with various clubs and Barry Casey, Paul Knowles, Trevor Murphy, Gary O’Riordan and Zladko Krisdic (Croatia) have all helped to strengthen the team. Former Cork hurler Tim Kelleher made a welcome return, after a lengthy absence through injury.



On the other hand, the Ovens based club have lost Dan Breen and Davy Garry, who have gone to England and America respectively through work. Eamonn Mitchell will probably be out for the remainder of the season through injury and captain Justin Cronin is another long-term casualty.



Mullins continued: "We started well in the league, by winning our first three games. However we then lost two and we will need to improve on our performances if we are to have a realistic chance of gaining promotion though last week's draw against Bellmount was encouraging. Our biggest victory margin to date was 8-0 against a depleted City Wanderers side. However our best victory was without doubt our 1 – 0 triumph over Ballincollig’s Premier outfit in the Munster Junior Cup."



The Under 17 team, who play in the AUL Premier League, are under the watchful eye of Elwyn Moore and Emmet Farrell. Following a good showing in the League Cup, hopes were high for a the league campaign. However poor turnouts have not helped in the last few games. Mullins reckons that the squad will need to be strengthened and "hopefully with a little more commitment from those already there we could do well in our remaining games".



The current junior panel is: Eoin Byrne, Barry Casey, Paul Coakley, Sean Cunningham, James Doyle, Tim Kelleher, Paul Knowles, Zdlako Krisdic, Damien Lordan (Current Player of the Year), Fergus Lordan, Sean Lordan, Trevor Murphy, Colm O’Leary, Noel O’Mahony, Gary O’Riordan, Robert Spillane. It is also hoped to introduce a few of the Under 17 panel throughout the season.



The Under 17 squad consists of Shane O’Sullivan, Damien Higgins, Stephen Ahern, Cathal Aherne, Conor Cunningham (captain), Brian Donovan, Steven Fenton (top scorer last season), Ronan Walsh, Barry Lordan (clubman of the Year), John Dumigan, Peter Corcoran, Padraig O’Brien, Eoin Donnelly, Gary Lucey and Cathal O’Callaghan.