Lisbellaw worthy favourites to make it two in a row

Gareth Cauldwell • Published 19 Aug 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Lisbellaw manager Jimmy McGrath.

The new season kicks off on Saturday and Division One promises to be a closely fought battle with a number of sides hoping to be in the frame when the campaign reaches the business end of matters.

Last season Lisbellaw United led the race from start to finish and had four points to spare over second placed Glebe United at the end of the season, and a massive 17 points dividing them and Enniskillen Town in third spot.

Having secured their first Mercer League in 29 years, Lisbellaw will enter the new season high on confidence and they will be fancied to retain the title.

Manager James McGrath has constructed a strong squad of players and the addition of Raymond Carroll during the transfer window last season was an important part of their surge to the Mercer Cup.

Carroll will be one of the key men for Lisbellaw in the forthcoming season and he forms a strong defensive partnership with Ian Veitch.

In the middle of the park they have the talented Andy Reilly and Kyle McCleery while Paul McGrath has the ability to pop up with goals from midfield. McGrath has also brought in Davy Little from Clabby Strollers and he can provide quality deliveries from the left hand side.

And in attack they will look for Paul Baron to continue the scoring form he displayed last time around.

McGrath though will be aware that as champions, everybody will be gunning for his side and there are a number of teams who will feel that they have the tools to make a push at the top of the table.

One side that cannot be written off is Enniskillen Town. Lisbellaw’s win last year ended Town’s five year dominance of the Mercer League and Rory Judge will be determined to get his side back among the title chasers this season. Too many drawn games, especially early in the campaign, was Town’s downfall last season so they will look to get off to a good start to the season. Town still possess players with a wealth of experience but they have also brought in some younger faces to freshen the side up. Obviously the likes of Gary Beckett, Malcolm Crawford and Mark Connolly will be vital and Judge will be looking for new signing Matthew McAuley to make a big impact at midfield as they look to challenge.

Last season Glebe United proved to be the surprise package in the division as they pushed Lisbellaw all the way after coming up from Division Two and they will be looking to put in another sustained effort over the course of this season adn build on what they acheived last time around.

The other promoted side, Fintona Swifts, also fared well in the top flight with Kevin Marlow’s outfit coming home in fourth spot, producing some fine results over the season, and although it is often the case that the second season is more difficult, they too will be keen to progress this season.

Ballinamallard Reserves should also be in the mix for the title. First team manager Whitey Anderson strengthened his hand with a number of good signings andf this in turn should lead to the Reserves having a stronger side most weeks. The main aim of any reserve side is to supplement the first team but with the quality available to Neil Coulter he will be looking for them to be among the contenders.

Enniskillen Santos and Irvinestown Wanderers, the sides that finished seventh and eighth respectively, will hope to finish higher up the table. Joe Keenan’s Santos were among the top teams at the start of last season but they fell away as the season progressed. In Gary Ramsey Santos have one of the best goalkeeper’s in the league it is is important he stays injury free while the return of Byron McNern should give them more threat in front of goal.

Greg Copeland managed to turn things around when he took over the reins at the Wanderers midway through the campaign. At that stage Irvinestown were struggling but he was able to take them up to a respectable finish as well as steer them through to the Mulhern Cup final were they lost out to Strathroy Harps.

Two teams who will be eager to improve will be Tummery and Shelbourne. Tummery have good quality and if they can make a good start to the season then they could well be a team to watch while Sherlbourne have probably been the main benefactors from Omagh United’s demise and the talk is that they will be challengers this season and not involved in the relegation battle.

And Churchtown, who had a terrific end to the season, have been in good form under manager Noel Mooney in pre-season and will look to take that form into the new season.

That then leads us to the promoted sides, Beragh Swifts and Eniskillen Rangers. Both sides will have noticed the impact made by the newly promoted sides last season which showed that they could contest with the teams at the right end of the table but in a very tight looking division it would be fair to presume that maintaining their top flight status would be the first priority.

Billy Reynolds has done a good job with Rangers, leading them back to the top division, and with a young side it would be great for their progress if they can stay in Division One and further build on the fine work of the last couple of seasons.

We, therefore, have the makings of a great season and in the coming weeks and months there will be plenty of twists and turns in the battles at both ends of the table.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Aug 10

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