*Shannon Town Utd captain Charlie Morrison. Photograph: Joe Buckley
PUNCHING BELOW their weight in terms of results in recent seasons, Shannon Town Utd are setting out with the stall of surviving in the top flight while also trying to close the gap with the top teams in the county.
David Hogan has returned for a second season in charge of Shannon Town Utd. He had been assistant manager to CDSL Chairman Donal Mageee when the club won their maiden Premier Division title in 2017.
That was without question the club’s highpoint since returning to the Clare league but it hasn’t come close to returning to the summit in either league or the Clare Cup in recent years.
“It was ten years ago now,” Hogan said when reflecting on the club’s Premier Division success. “I’m delighted to be back involved, one of my mottos when I came in was to get more youths back playing with Shannon Town and supplement our teams with good young players, we want to have left it in a better place and we’re working towards doing that”.
Previous managerial roles for Hogan include the Clare Youths and the county’s Kennedy Cup side two years ago while he was also involved with Clare’s Oscar Traynor side. On top of his role with Shannon Town’s junior side, he is also in charge of their U15 outfit and the Clare U15s.
Slipping out of the top four is ultimately where Shannon Town deserved to be based on their performances last season, David admitted. “We finished where we deserved to finish, the league table doesn’t lie. We beat Newmarket Celtic on the last day of the season but other than that we didn’t take points from any of the teams above us like Bridge Utd and Avenue Utd. We had two tight games with Tulla Utd but they leapfrogged us to where I thought we should have been. We finished where we deserved to, we had challenges last season with the GAA going till November which didn’t help us, we had a tight squad, we worked hard and overall we got to where we deserved to. We were competitive to a point but we were still behind the top three in terms of consistent form”.
Given the quality of footballers to have emerged from Shannon, the town itself is under-achieving by only having one club in the top flight of Clare soccer whereas Ennis now as four clubs in the Premier Division. Shannon Olympic were relegated from the Premier Division last season while Shannon Hibs have returned to the First Division as they continue to rebuild following their relegation three years ago.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, David felt the lack of success has contributed to players leaving Shannon clubs. “I know it is an easy thing to say and talk locally to say all pull as one, unfortunately there too many internal challenges that we never seem to come together. As a Shannon man, it frustrates me that we can’t seem to keep the top players in the town, there are attractions elsewhere but unless we get a seat at the top table then we can’t attract big players, we are trying to bridge the gap but it won’t happen overnight, I’d hope to see success in the next eighteen to twenty four months”.
He continued, “We seem to develop really good players across the different Shannon clubs, it’s like they come knocking on the door and advertise what they have which can come across as a better club but they do tend to come back. It can be at the wrong time, it works out for some and not for others, it is one of the mind boggling ones, we’ve a good set up and brilliant club, we are one of the biggest clubs in Clare, our facilities are improving the whole time, both of our pitches are in great nick and we’ve a new clubhouse, we’ve the right set up. Success attracts people to other clubs and that is something we can’t guarantee, Avenue Utd are very strong, Newmarket Celtic have been the flag bearer of Clare soccer for the last ten years and they’ve had a very settled squad because of that for the last decade really, they have more incoming than outgoing players whereas the likes of us tend to be the opposite”.
Outlining their focus for the coming season, he stated, “First and foremost we want to survive, it will be a very competitive league particularly in Ennis with four teams from the town. We’ve seen Fair Green and Ennis Dons, we’ve played Lifford and Avenue so we know what they will bring, it’s always a difficult journey to Kilrush, they never lie down and they proved that when they beat Avenue in Lees Rd last season. Survival is the first target for us and internally we’ve set the target of trying to bridge the gap with Tulla Utd and keeping our eye on the newcomers to the Premier Division who will try to stake a claim but they are all tricky ties to be honest. It is unfortunate that we’ve lost Inch Crusaders, they were impressive last season and it’s now a nine-team league which I think will be ultra competitive. We have to try and maintain our spot but try compete much more with the top three teams”.
Players do indeed come back with Kieran Hackett and Brian Monaghan both returning from Newmarket Celtic and Bridge Utd respectively. They have experience in defence in the guise of Derek Byrne and Steven Carroll adding to the talent of Kai Khetan who is currently sidelined with injury, Aaron Kelly, Cody Waller and Eoghan Gough.
Momentum can be gained for Shannon Town by forging a decent run in the Clare Cup, something he acknowledged they have struggled to do. “A good Cup run is something we haven’t done in years so I guess we’re looking for lady luck when it comes to the draw. Tulla showed last year that anyone can get to the final and we’re not far off them in the league. Our average age is the early twenties and we have the sprinkle of experience with Derek Byrne heading into his forties and Steven Carroll around the same. We need guys with that pedigree in the camp to add the experience, our younger lads are raw but they are good Shannon lads, they understand the challenge of junior football, it is not easy and they are learning the whole time”.
They’re learning from a successful former junior footballer with David part of the Bunratty Utd side to claim success in the 1990s and 2000s including winning two Cup finals in a row and four in six years.
Shannon Town Utd Fact File:
Management: David Hogan (manager/head coach), Fergal McCarthy, Evan Glynn, Adam O’Sullivan, Gareth Aherne
Captain: Charlie Morrison
Key Player: Aaron Kelly
One to watch: Aaron Shinners
Fresh blood: Kieran Hackett (returned after season with Newmarket Celtic), Brian Monaghan (rejoined from Bridge Utd), Kyle McInerney (returns from Bridge Utd), Ryan Farrell (relocated from Donegal), Jacob Setkowicz (from youths), Adam Ryan (from youths), Aidan Buckley (from youths), Orainn McInerney (from youths).
Departures Gate: Gary Cusack (signed for Newmarket Celtic B).
Treatment table: TJ O’Dwyer (knee), Kai Khetan (knee)
Last year’s run: Mid-table finish in Premier Division, exited in the last sixteen of Clare Cup.
