It was joy unconfined in Swords last evening after our U12A squad clinched the DDSL Sunday 12.4 title after a titanic, tit-for-tat battle with Cherry Orchard. Since the turn of the year these two teams have gone head-to-head (a little like City and Liverpool!), matching each other, point for point, win for win.
When they met in Albert back in April the Diggers were on an eight-game unbeaten run – but after an entertaining match which ended 1-1, the title seemed destined for the famous Ballyfermot nursery. But our boys dug in, kept gathering the points, and with a steely determination that if the Orchard slipped up then they would be ready to pounce. And so it was, on Sunday the pressure of having Glasnevin snapping at their heels since Christmas finally paid off when Blessington recorded a surprising but well-earned away victory over the Orchard. Now all the Diggers had to do was hold their nerve last evening, continue to play their attractive passing game and victory would be theirs. Another consummate (and rather comfortable) victory saw our boys put six past Swords Celtic without reply. A first DDSL League title for the Diggers.
This is the first squad containing players who began their Diggers career in our very successful and innovative nursery. The historical picture here has MJ Boylan (circled middle back row) and Louis Doyle (circled right back row) making their debut on September 20, 2016, for the Diggers. In total, seven of last night’s victorious squad came out of the Academy and have remained with the club ever since. Well done lads, this is just the first of the silverware.
U12.4 Squad: MJ Boylan, Luke Coughlan, Darragh O’Connor Casey, Louis Doyle, Eli Fallon, Eoin Fitzgerald, Luke Heary, Jakob Kelly, Eoin Larkin, Evan Morgan, Shane Staunton, Harry Troy & Dan Wheatley.