The U-14 side, managed by Hugh O’Kane and John O’Brien competed in Grade 4. The side played ten league games and won two of them, both against Dregish. In the championship, played on 14th May, the lads went down to the strong challenge of Derrytresk who went on to win the league and championship double. The U-14 league was played on a home and away basis in 2005 and in a number of the second round games it was noticeable that the team had improved as the season progressed, most obviously against Clan Na Gael. But it must be noted that a large percentage of players playing on the U-14 team were still U-12. The U-13 team, under the guidance of John O’Brien, Sean McCartan, Pat Donaghy and Damian Mullan, participated in the competition that was run from mid September to mid October. The team participated in Grade 3 and played four league matches and two play-off games in total. They won three of their four league games and were involved in a three-way play-off at the top of the section with Eskra and Newtownstewart. Unfortunately the side went down to both in the play-offs and did not progress to the semi finals of the competition. This team will form the basis of the U-14 side next year and hopefully, with a lot of hard work and application, we will see this group of players improve greatly over the forthcoming months. The U-12s, who were coached by Pat Donaghy, Dermot Moxon and Declan Donaghy, played in Grade 3. A lot of this team had already a lot of football played with the U-14’s earlier in the season and it stood them in good stead. The side enjoyed four wins out of the six league games played. Although the team did not play all their games they continued to train and managed to reach the final of the Harte Memorial Tournament where they were defeated by a strong Kildress side. The U-10 team had a variety of coaches during the year and Gary Conway headed these. The side took part in a number of blitzes competing against teams from Errigal Ciarán, Killeeshil, Galbally, and Kildress. The lads gave a very good account of themselves at each Blitz and it was very evident that they improved with each one played. Likewise the U-8 team made significant progress during the season. Under the management of Barry McElduff and Barney Gallagher, with a number of other coaches involved during the season, the team competed against teams from Clogher, Errigal Ciarán, Galbally, Augher and Kildress in various Blitzes. The large number of lads training also was a very encouraging sign during the year. In concluding with Youth Football for 2005 I would firstly like to thank all our Youth coaches and players for the hard work and effort they gave to the development of under age football in our club during the year. Although 2005 did not bring any silverware to the club at underage level there were some positive aspects to be taken out of the season. In particular the younger teams showed encouraging signs at their respective blitzes and a lot of the other teams improved during the course of the year. But I would add that there still needs to be a lot of work done at underage level and there were some areas that were of concern during the season. In order for us to do this I feel that more emphasis must be put on our underage and that we must get more people involved to assist with the preparation of our underage teams in 2006.
