A big weekend of football with lots of juvenile finals down for decision. Lough Derg FC had three boys teams in action on Saturday in the Cup Finals at u12, u14 and u16 level and while all squads can be proud of their performance and achievements at getting to the final, on the day three sets of runners up medals was the silverware haul.

U14 boys were out versus their keen rivals BT Harps. In a tie that could have gone either way it was BT that won it with a goal late in the game worthy of winning any cup final giving them a 2-1 win. Tough luck to the Derg boys that gave it their all. Better days ahead.

U16s squared up to Killavilla in Ardcroney. Derg enjoyed a bright first half but fell behind approaching the interval. Derg tired hard in the second half but couldn’t find a way through and late on were caught short by a counterattack, conceding a penalty from which Killavilla wrapped up the tie 2-0. There is more to football than just winning cups. This squad has been through plenty of challenges and before this season started two squads were merged into one. What came out of the merger was stronger than the sum of its parts and the squad has really gelled as a true team. A bright future awaits many of these young ballers who might previously have been lost to the game.

Game of the day was in the under 12 Cup Final as Lough Derg faced Nenagh AFC in a game that always gets the heart rate pumping. 2 fine sides finished 2-2 after extra time and it went to the dreaded penalties. It was Nenagh who held their nerve to win it 5-4 on penalties. Kudos and respect to any young footballer who puts a hand up to take that long walk to the spot. We win as a team, we lose as a team. Some days we win, every day we learn.

So, that’s the 2020 Cups wrapped up in June 21. There is great credit due to the league and officials for completing these competitions. Many other organizations just declared everything a covid wipe out. It means a lot to our young players to be back in the game. We are straight into the Super Cup competitions now which will run over a couple of months for the summer. Needless to say, its feast or famine after lockdown and with games coming think and fast across all codes we will do our very best to avoid clashes and ensure players get to enjoy as much games and game times as they need.

Its great to be back.