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.: Ballingarry AFC and The League Division 1 Championship

Winners: 2002/03, 2007/08, 2010/11
Promoted as runners-up: 1987-88 (Old Division 2), 1993-94

Ballingarry win Division 1 2002/03

When Ballingarry AFC won the Division 1 league title for the first time in 2002/03 it signalled the end of a long exile from the Premier Division. Ballingarry had been relegated at the end of season 1995/96 and would wait seven long seasons before they would return to the top flight. Winning the title that season was especially sweet as the previous season they were just minutes away from league glory but an eventual 2-2 draw at Killeaney in their last game, having led the game 2-1 with just eight minutes remaining, saw them fall at the last hurdle and finish third. A win would have confirmed them promoted as champions.

They started season 2002/03 as red hot favourites having won the Desmond Cup the previous season and going so close to promotion however, they didn’t live up to that billing at the start as they opened with three draws but from that point on they set the pace winning their next five before losing at home to Adare United. It was the halfway point in the season and would be the only league game they would lose for the remainder of the campaign.

The second half of the season would see them pick up another 21 points and at the finish they would have a nine point advantage over their nearest rivals, Kildimo United.

They scored 43 goals with thirteen different players on the score sheet with Denis Kelly’s eight strikes just edging out Eoin Kennedy as the clubs top league scorer with 7.

Of the thirteen goals that the defence conceded Patrick Kenrick in goal let in just nine. This fine return plus the fact that he also scored two league goals didn’t win him the Player of the Year award, that honour went to captain Niall Condron

It was also a season that saw Max Mougard play in the Limerick Desmond League for Ballingarry. Mougard was a French student at University of Limerick and played left inside for the club, a position that he excelled in.

When Niall Condron lifted the Division 1 trophy it was the second trophy that the club won in as many seasons and the first won by manager George Quinlivan during his debut season.

 

How the League was won 2002/03

Date	Opposition	Result	Scorers
1-9-02	Carrig Celtic (h)	D 1-1	D. Kelly
8-9-02	Creeves Celtic (h)	D 1-1	D. Kelly
6-10-02	Kildimo Utd (a)	D 1-1	Donal O' Grady
20-10-02	Glantine Rvs (h)	W 3-0	E. Kennedy, B. Hanley 2
3-11-02	Athea Utd (a)	W 4-0	D. Kelly 2, E. Kennedy, Donal O' Grady
15-12-02	Breska Rvs (h)	W 5-0	Donal O' Grady 2, P. Forde 2, A. Barrett
22-12-02	Pallaskenry (h)	W 3-0	P. Kenrick, E. Kennedy, D. Kelly
29-12-02	Carrig Celtic (a)	W 4-0	N. Condron, O.G., E. Kennedy, Darragh O' Grady
19-1-03	Adare Utd (h)	L 1-2	M. Mougard
26-1-03	Breska Rvs (a)	D 3-3	D. Kelly, M. Mougard, A. Barrett
2-2-03	Foynes (a)	W 2-0	N. Condron, J. Scanlon pen
16-2-03	Carrig Celtic (h)	W 5-1	N. Condron 2, E. Kennedy, Donal O' Grady, Darragh O' Grady
23-2-03	Pallaskenry (a)	W 2-1	M. Clancy, F. Kiely
2-3-03	Glantine Rvs (a)	W 3-1	D. Kelly, J. Scanlon, P. Kenrick
16-3-03	Adare Utd (a)	D 2-2	E. Kennedy 2
30-3-03	Athea Utd (h)	W 1-0	Darragh O' Grady
6-4-03	Foynes (h)	W 2-0	D. Kelly, B. Hanley
25-5-03	Kildimo Utd (h)	D 0-0
Pos  Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Ballingarry (C) 18 11 6 1 43 13 +30 39 2 Kildimo United (P) 18 9 3 6 31 21 +10 30 3 Foynes 18 8 5 5 36 22 +14 29 4 Adare United 18 8 5 5 30 17 +13 29 5 Carrig Celtic 18 8 4 6 28 25 +3 28 6 Creeves Celtic 18 8 3 7 31 36 -5 27 7 Breska Rovers 18 6 5 7 33 31 +2 23 8 Athea United 18 7 1 10 32 30 +2 22 9 Pallaskenry (R) 18 4 2 12 24 42 -18 14 10 Glantine Rovers (R) 18 4 0 14 25 59 -34 12    Player statistics Appearances Goals Mike Condron 18 0 Colm Kiely 18 0 Denis Kelly 17 8 Niall Condron 17 4 Aidan Barrett 17 2 Joe Scanlon 17 2 Donal O' Grady 16 5 Darragh O' Grady 16 3 Eoin Kennedy 15 7 Patrick Kenrick 14 2 Micheal Clancy 14 1 Bart Hanley 9 3 Max Mougard 9 2 Eoin Barrett (capt) 8 0 Francis Kiely 7 1 Darren Clifford 7 0 Padraig Forde 4 2 John Cronin 4 0 Noel McNamara 3 0 Patrick O' Keeffe 1 0 Steve Dunworth 1 0 Padraig McAuliffe 1 0 Rory Alymer 1 0 Brian Kelly 1 0

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Ballingarry Win Division 1 2007/08

Just three seasons after Ballingarry AFC won the Premier Division title they found themselvesback in Division 1. There theywould prove that they were too good a side for that division and they would bounce back not just with the Division 1 title in the bag but with the Division 1 league cup in tow. It was the first ever double won by the junior side.

Ballingarry would give an incredible performance that season dropping just seven points from the entire league programme suffering just one loss in the process. Still it proved a close title race with NCW Rovers keeping pace with them throughout with the last game featuring the two sides in Ballingarry deciding the title destination that eventually saw Aidan Barrett lift the trophy. Luckily Ballingarry were victorious with the three points collected confirming a four point cushion between the two sides at the end. It was also the second time that Ballingarry had beaten their nearest rivals that season in the league with those six points collected from their 2-0 win in NCW and their 2-1 last day success proving crucial at the death.

From their opening nine games they had won seven, drawn one with their only season long league loss suffered at St Itas (2-0). Of their remaining nine games they dropped just two points from a home draw against NCW B.

While scoring 46 goals was impressive in itself it was in their goals against column that made unbelievable reading. John O'Grady in goals left in just four league goals during the seventeen games he played. Denis Kelly’s fifteen league goals not only saw him crowned Ballingarry Player of the Year but also the divisional player of the year a first for a Ballingarry player.

 

 

How the League was won 2007/08

Date	Opposition	Result	Scorers
26-8-07	Breska Rvs (a)	W 1-0	R. Alymer
9-9-07	Foynes (a)	W 4-1	R. Alymer 2, D. Kelly, J. Scanlon
16-9-07	Athea Utd (h)	D 1-1	R. Alymer
23-9-07	NCW B (a)	W 3-0	F. Kiely, D. Kelly 2
30-9-07	Rathkeale B (h)	W 4-0	J. Scanlon 2, D. Kelly, D. Normoyle
7-10-07	NCW Rvs (a)	W 2-0	R. Alymer, D. Kelly
25-11-07	St. Itas (a)	L 0-2
16-12-07	Kilcornan (h)	W 1-0	D. Kelly
6-1-08	Abbey Utd B (h)	W 3-0	F. Kiely, D. Kelly, Darragh O' Grady
27-1-08	Kilcornan (a)	W 2-0	R. Alymer, E. Kennedy
10-2-08	Abbey Utd B (a)	W 4-0	D. Kelly 4
24-2-08	Foynes (h)	W 6-0	F. Kiely 2, J. Scanlon 2, D. Kelly, N. Condron
9-3-08	Athea Utd (a)	W 4-0	E. Barrett 2, N. Condron, D. Kelly
23-3-08	NCW B (h)	D 0-0
18-4-08	St. Itas (h)	W 4-0	D. Kelly, N. Condron, E. Barrett, M. Corrigan
11-5-08	Breska Rovers (h)	W 3-0	D. Kelly, R. Alymer, F. Kiely
18-5-08	Rathkeale B (a)	W 2-0	R. Alymer, D. Kelly
25-5-08	NCW Rvs (h)	W 2-1	M. Corrigan, J. Scanlon pen
Pos  Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Ballingarry AFC (C) 18 15 2 1 46 5 41 47 2 NCW Rovers (P) 18 14 1 3 54 17 37 43 3 St. Itas 18 11 3 4 50 31 19 36 4 Abbeyfeale United B 18 6 5 7 32 45 -13 23 5 Rathkeale B 18 6 3 9 30 35 -5 21 6 Breska Rovers 18 5 5 8 35 31 4 20 7 Foynes 18 6 2 10 29 53 -24 20 8 Athea United 18 5 3 10 33 47 -14 18 9 Newcastlewest B (R) 18 5 2 11 23 43 -20 17 10 Kilcornan (R) 18 2 4 12 25 50 -25 10    Player statistics Appearances Goals John O'Grady 18 0 Colm Kiely 18 0 Denis Kelly 16 15 Rory Alymer 16 8 Francis Kiely 16 5 Joe Scanlon 15 6 Declan Normoyle 15 1 Niall Condron 14 3 Darragh O'Grady 14 1 Aidan Barrett 14 0 Michael Corrigan 12 1 Kieran Condron 9 0 Eoin Kennedy 8 2 Niall Cahill 8 0 Eoin Barrett 7 4 Darren Alymer 7 0 Kevin Trainor 7 0 Phil Lane 6 0 Brian Kennedy 2 0 Eoin Cahill 1 0 Kristian Doyle 1 0 Bart Hanley 1 0 Patrick Keating 1 0 Danny Neville 1 0 Brian O'Kelly 1 0 Ballingarry Win Division 1 2010/11 The return of George Quinlivan to the helm following a one season absence brought with it instant success in the form of the clubs third Division 1 title and an immediate return to the Premier following just one season after relegation. It was probably the most expected of triumphs as Ballingarry were installed as favourites for that title once relegation was confirmed on the last day of the previous season by just one point. And as it was the forecasters got it right from the start with Ballingarry setting the pace from the very first game with a 2-1 win at St. Itas and maintaining their tremendous form throughout the season. Such was their dominance of the title race that they secured the league with four games to spare and without kicking a ball in anger when St. Itas, the only team that could catch them, lost at home to Glantine Rovers 2-1 on Friday April 8th 2011. At that point Ballingarry had accumulated a massive 36 points from 14 games which left them 13 points clear of Itas in an unassailable position. They would eventually win the trophy with that same 13 points to spare while completing the entire season without losing a single league game, a new club record and when the four league game unbeaten run the club enjoyed at the end of the previous season it put them on a 22 game unbeaten league run, one that dated back to April 4th 2010 when NCW Rovers defeated them 4-3 in a Premier league fixture at NCW. The foundations for their success were laid in the opening half of the season where from their first nine games they dropped just four points from draws away at Kildimo United (1-1) and a home draw against Carrig Celtic (0-0) the only league game during which they failed to score in that season. The spread of goals at this point of the season was already impressive with nine different players getting on the score sheet, at the finish twelve Ballingarry players shared forty goals with Kevin Forde’s eight strikes contributing in no small way to their table topping season and securing the top league scorer slot for him this season. In total Ballingarry found the net no fewer than forty times while at the other end captain Pat Kenrick let in just fifteen goals with seven cleans sheets to his name from his ever present season. Indeed he was one of just four players from the twenty six used in the league to play in all the games, the others being Francis Kiely, Darragh O'Grady and Marcus Moore. Winning the league with four games to play gave manager Quinlivan an opportunity to “blood” some of the players from the highly successful youth team and that he did with left full Richard O'Kelly and striker Dean Clancy making their debuts towards the finish. Going unbeaten became their objective once the league was secured while the divisional league cup went to the top of their wish list in what would have been the second league and cup double in the clubs history. While that unbeaten record was achieved the league cup also returned to Ballingarry to secure a second Division 1 double for the club. So Ballingarry claimed their third Division 1 title and when Patrick Kenrick accepted the trophy from PJ Hogan of the Limerick Desmond Football League on Friday the 13th of May it signalled the return of George Quinlivan doing what he does best, guiding Ballingarry to glory. How the League was won 2010/11  Date  Opposition  Result  Scorers 29-8-10 St. Itas (a) W 2-1 S. O'Doherty (pen), Alymer 5-9-10 Glantine (h) W 3-0 Kelly, Forde, Corrigan 12-9-10 Kildimo United (a) D 1-1 Darragh O'Grady 10-10-10 Kilcolman Rovers (a) W 4-2 C. Doherty, Moore, Corrigan, Forde 31-10-10 Pallaskenry (h) W 3-2 Forde 2, Kennedy 7-11-10 Old Mill (a) W 2-1 Alymer, S.Doherty 28-11-10 Abbeyfeale United B (a) W 3-2 Darragh O'Grady, Kelly, Forde 12-12-10 Carrig Celtic (h) D 0-0   2-1-11 St. Itas (h) W 4-0 F. Kiely 2, C. Doherty, S. Doherty 30-1-11 Pallaskenry (a) D 1-1 Kelly 4-2-11 Glantine (a) W 2-0 D. Kelly, C. Doherty 20-2-11 Kildimo United (h) W 3-1 Alymer 2, Moore 20-3-11 Carrig Celtic (a) W 1-0 Forde 3-4-11 Athea United (h) W 2-1 Forde 2 17-4-11 Abbeyfeale United B (h) W 4-2 F. Kiely 2, C. Kiely, Moore 6-5-11 Kilcolman Rovers (h) W 2-0 Corrigan, Alymer 8-5-11 Athea United (a) W 1-0 S. Doherty 13-5-11 Old Mill (h) D 1-1 D. Alymer          Pos  Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Ballingarry (C) 18 14 4 0 39 15 24 46 2 Kildimo United 18 9 6 3 40 22 18 33 3 Carrig Celtic 18 9 3 6 28 27 1 30 4 St. Itas 18 9 2 7 34 30 4 29 5 Pallaskenry 18 7 4 7 27 24 3 25 6 Old Mill 18 6 5 7 27 32 -5 23 7 Athea United 18 6 4 8 33 32 1 22 8 Glantine Rovers 18 5 3 10 23 36 -13 18 9 Kilcolman Rovers 18 4 5 9 26 33 -7 17 10 Abbeyfeale United B 18 2 2 14 23 49 -27 8  Player statistics Appearances Goals Francis Kiely 18 5 Marcus Moore 18 3 Darragh O'Grady 18 2 Patrick Kenrick 18 0 Kieran Condron 17 0 Rory Alymer 16 6 Colin O'Doherty 16 3 Colm Kiely 16 1 Shane O'Doherty 14 4 Kevin Forde 12 8 Michael Corrigan 12 2 Niall Cahill 12 0 Denis Kelly 10 4 Eoin Kennedy 9 1 Brian Fitzgerald 9 0 Darren Alymer 7 1 Kevin Trainor 6 0 Eoin Cahill 6 0 John O'Grady 4 0 Eoin Ryan 3 0 Dean Clancy 2 0 Kevin Moynihan 2 0 Mike Condron 1 0 Kristian Doyle 1 0 Richard O'Kelly 1 0 Evan Quinlivan 1 0     back to top