GRATTAN'S MEMORABLE SEASON
by club secretary Gavin O'Mahony
As you well know this year has been one long roller coaster ride for us.
We have experienced the highs of winning the Premier and playing in the Quarterfinals of the FAI and the heartbreak of going out of both the semi finals of the AOH and the Mossie Linnane not to mention the MJC defeat to Limerick side Regional in the last 32 of the MJC.
I would find it hard to pick one single memory to define our season because there have been some great ones. Beating Peakevilla and Pike in the FAI junior were our results of the season due to the fact that our side was new to this stage of the competition and the prowess of the opposition.
Considering the conditions that the games were played under it is amazing the standard of football that was played. We provided 6 players for our Oscar Traynor squad this year also but for me personally my best memory was seeing John Paul O'Sullivan (above) become the first Grattan Utd player to be capped at junior level for his country. To represent your country at any level is fantastic but for JP coming from a small club like ourselves it is doubly so.
We bowed out at the quarter final stage in a fantastic battle against Waterford’s Villa, losing 3/2 after being 2/1 up. Heartbreaking defeat as it was we had to pick ourselves up for the League/MJC and the AOH which we were still in.
The MJC was a disappointing result considering we missed a penalty at 0/0 against Limerick side Regional only for them to score the winner straight away from very next passage of play. As I said a very disappointing defeat to take.
The league was a welcome distraction for the players next and a series of good wins put us in a great position within striking distance of Kinsale and long time leaders Park.
The AOH drew us away again and a revenge mission for the early season semi final defeat by Ballyphehane was gained in the last 8 of the AOH with the Gratts winning 3/2. The semi final at O'Neill Park was for most expected to be a victory for the Gratts but Coachford had not read the script and Coachford came out best on a scoreline of 0/1 in a game that offered little for the football lover.
It is a testament to the spirit and ability of the players that John Kelleher our best player for the first half of the season picked up a serious knee injury at the end of January and did not play again until the last 6 games of the season.
We have experienced the highs of winning the Premier and playing in the Quarterfinals of the FAI and the heartbreak of going out of both the semi finals of the AOH and the Mossie Linnane not to mention the MJC defeat to Limerick side Regional in the last 32 of the MJC.
I would find it hard to pick one single memory to define our season because there have been some great ones. Beating Peakevilla and Pike in the FAI junior were our results of the season due to the fact that our side was new to this stage of the competition and the prowess of the opposition.
Considering the conditions that the games were played under it is amazing the standard of football that was played. We provided 6 players for our Oscar Traynor squad this year also but for me personally my best memory was seeing John Paul O'Sullivan (above) become the first Grattan Utd player to be capped at junior level for his country. To represent your country at any level is fantastic but for JP coming from a small club like ourselves it is doubly so.
We bowed out at the quarter final stage in a fantastic battle against Waterford’s Villa, losing 3/2 after being 2/1 up. Heartbreaking defeat as it was we had to pick ourselves up for the League/MJC and the AOH which we were still in.
The MJC was a disappointing result considering we missed a penalty at 0/0 against Limerick side Regional only for them to score the winner straight away from very next passage of play. As I said a very disappointing defeat to take.
The league was a welcome distraction for the players next and a series of good wins put us in a great position within striking distance of Kinsale and long time leaders Park.
The AOH drew us away again and a revenge mission for the early season semi final defeat by Ballyphehane was gained in the last 8 of the AOH with the Gratts winning 3/2. The semi final at O'Neill Park was for most expected to be a victory for the Gratts but Coachford had not read the script and Coachford came out best on a scoreline of 0/1 in a game that offered little for the football lover.
It is a testament to the spirit and ability of the players that John Kelleher our best player for the first half of the season picked up a serious knee injury at the end of January and did not play again until the last 6 games of the season.
There were question marks as to whether we could get over such heavy defeats as we had taken and raise ourselves for the league fight but manager Pat Caulfield and Assistant Robbie O'Callaghan worked wonders again. The Gratts took 13 points from their last 5 home games and won the AUL premier by beating Macroom 3/2 away with 3 games to spare.
We finished our season with a 2/0 victory away to Leeside and to cap a great end to the season it seemed fitting that John Kelleher was awarded man of the match in our last game having missed half a season through injury.
Our B side (top) were overshadowed for the majority of the season due to the fantastic success of our A team but still managed to reach Turners Cross for the final of the Presidents cup which they lost 3/1. That was very hard to take for such a young side but only 2 days later they bounced back by winning promotion to the 2nd division by beating long time rivals Carrigaline 2/1 at O'Neill Park.
Heartbreak was to follow with Lakewood scoring in the last minute of their game against Wilton B to tip the Gratts B side to the league crown by 1 point but even second place was a fantastic achievement.
On a club front at the time of writing this, we have received full planning permission for our new dressing room facilities and are expecting work to start in July. These dressing rooms along with the already excellent facilities in place will put Grattan Utd up with the best Cork has to offer.
Towards the end of the season many a visitor to O'Neill Park commented on how the pitch looked and this was all down to the great work of groundsman Martin O'Leary and no little help from Mick Tobin also.
We would like to than our main sponsors Michelle and Eddie O'Sullivan and also Connor Keller and Glen Eire Cabs for their fantastic support. Due to the late finishing date of the season we have decided to defer our normal player of the season awards to let the players A and B to get a well deserved rest and hope to have a Gala awards night in August hopefully to tie in with the unveiling of our new dressing rooms.
I would also especially like to thank my fellow committee members for the hard work they have put in this year and for the help they have given me through what was a fantastic year for myself in only my second year as secretary and finally to AUL Fixture Secretary Richard Brown for all his help.
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