*Bridge Utd’s Jack O’Halloran. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ON THE field Bridge Utd have been within touching distance of a major breakthrough while off it they came all too close to seeing their squad decimated in the off-season.
Losing key players Adam Fitzpatrick and Filip Mostowy is undoubtedly a blow to the Sixmilebridge side plus Aidan Moloney’s elevation to the Treaty Utd U20 outfit with Ennis duo Johnson Mununkum and William Bello also calling a halt on their six month stint with the club to join Avenue. Efforts are ongoing to persuade thirty one year old Brian Corry out of retirement.
It appeared that it was going to be much worse for the Bridge in terms of exiting personnel with deals for goalkeeper John Mulready to Ballynanty and defender Lee Mulready to Pike Rovers almost over the line while Liam Buckley and Scott Kirkland were understood to also be bidding farewell.
However a last minute resolution was reached and it prevented the Bridge going from title contenders to a side that would have been battling relegation.
Pa O’Halloran has entered the fray as Bridge Utd manager, he admitted that their first task was to prevent the wave of exits. “The first thing we did as a management was to sit down with the lads that were considering leaving and signing for other clubs, we sat down with the lads and made contact with them. We laid it out on the table that we wanted them to stay and that it would be a shame for them to leave and not build on the last couple of years and the hard work that has been done. We have a different group and different voices in place, hopefully that has been behind some of them staying I coached some of them before and managed them before to U18s, I had a fairly good relationship with all of them, they all still talk to me”.
According to O’Halloran it was “peer pressure” that led him to succeed Mark Culbert and become manager. “It was timing, I wasn’t looking for it, they were looking for someone and they needed someone to step in and get a management team together, I managed five to six of the lads at youths level two years ago, I get on with a fair group of them, I came in short-term to get through this, I’ve been involved underage for years, I’m happy out with that, this is a different kettle of fish and we’ll see how it goes, a good bunch of lads there. Realistically I want to see them do well, they are a great group of players who have been very close, it would be great to push on and get over the line”.
Avoiding a mass exodus has in fact strengthened the unity of the squad, Pa maintained. “In fairness it has given us a boost when we’ve had a few of the lads deciding to stay, some of them are leaders which is a big thing, they set the standards which makes our life easier as a management, even the younger lads coming through look up to them”.
Finishing second place in the Premier Division for two seasons on the bounce, the 2024/25 league was decided on the final day of the season against Avenue Utd while the campaign just gone petered out much earlier with them seven points adrift of champions Newmarket Celtic.
How to Bridge the line from the bridesmaids to the bride is “$1m dollar question,” O’Halloran noted. “I don’t know if I have the answer, you can ask me again in May and I’ll answer it better. Unity is a big thing, hard work is another, there is an abundance of talent, I’m not saying they haven’t worked hard or they have lacked belief but we have to work harder and keep picking up results to be in with a shout, they were there or thereabout last year and even the year before it went up to the final game with Avenue to decide who won the league. There is not a whole pile in it, a few small things and with a bit of luck things might change”.
Bridge Utd Factfile
Management: Pa O’Halloran (manager), Steven Stewart (coach), Brendan Murphy (coach), Philip Counihan (coach).
Captain: Liam Buckley
Vice Captain: Scott Kirkland
Key Player: Lee Mulready
One to watch: Cian Brennan
Fresh blood: Aidan McInerney, Cian Brennan, Stephen McInerney, Devin Downes, Ronan Tuohy, Paul Corry, Niall Liddane, Stephen Ogundare.
Departures Gate: Filip Mostowy (signed for Regional Utd), Adam Fitzpatrick (transferred to Regional Utd), Brian Corry (retired), Johnson Mununkum (transferred to Avenue Utd), William Bello (signed for Avenue Utd), Aidan Moloney (joined Treaty Utd U20s), Caleb Lategan (moved to Galway and signed for Salthill Devon)
Treatment table: Josh Brack (ACL), Aidan McInerney (broken toe), Alan Mulready (achilles), Lee Mulready (broken wrist), Devin Downes (quad), Paul Tuohy (hamstring)
Last season’s run: Finished second in the Premier Division for the second year running, beaten by Newmarket Celtic in Clare Cup semi-finals.
