AUL season in review: Wilton denied Kinsale the treble in 2010-'11

LAST week we looked at season 2009-10, so here will take one step forward and reflect back on season 2010-11 which had its own ups and downs for some of the clubs spread across all nine divisions in the Cork AUL.

Let’s have a quick peek first about the highs before going into the lows later.

Once again, Kinsale took the limelight when it came to success.

The first trophy they collected that season was the Mossie Linnane League Cup after goals from Jeremy Donovan and substitute Dan Williams handed them a 2-0 victory over Killumney in front of a large crowd in Turner’s Cross for a terrific final.

Next up was the Premier title which they won fairly convincingly after going 18 games and only conceding just seven goals.

Manager Peter Jones was to win his sixth league title with the Seasiders that season.

So, the stage was set for what was expected to be one of the most exciting AOH Cup finals in a long time — Kinsale versus Wilton United.

Both sides on the night certainly gave the large crowd an epic encounter to remember as the final went on to live up to the huge expectation it carried with it ahead of the event.

However, a third trophy evaded Peter Jones and his troops on the night as a 20th-minute strike from Shane O’Neill plus an 84th-minute penalty conversion by Fergal Giltinan meant that Wilton were to lift the blue-ribbon trophy with a 2-0 victory.

To win a trophy in any given season is a marvellous achievement in itself but, to win a double, takes a super effort from everyone and one of the great moments of the season was to see Innishvilla win both their League 2 title along with defeating Churchvilla to lift the Saxone Cup as well — certainly, a great season for this progressive club.

But, Innishvilla along with Kinsale were not the only sides winning doubles that season.

Kilreen Celtic had a quality side over the term and were rewarded in the end as champions of 1A.

Added to that, they went on and defeated Park United B 3-0 in the Corinthian’s Cup final.

Leeside had three teams in the AUL that season with their first team finishing third in the Premiership while their B team won the County Cup and the C team claiming the league three title — not a bad return at all for the club.

Of course with all the highs that go on over any season, there are always some lows unfortunately and once again, a quality Cork AUL side failed to make an impression in the Oscar Traynor competition.

Hopes were high after a convincing 4-1 victory in their first game over the MSL side with the goals coming from Keith Holden (two), Aaron Kearney and Shane O’Neill.

This looked like it had set them up on a positive note for the next stage, but after a below-par performance at O’Shea Park on February of that season, they went down 0-2 to Tipperary SDL.

This defeat meant that the Cork AUL were to take no further part in the competition.

One of the memories that I do have though, was the performance of the Tipperary ’keeper Richard Ryan.

Despite the Cork AUL side not firing in all cylinders, Ryan brought off a series of mesmerising saves to keep the game somehow scoreless at the break.

The AUL’s involvement once again in national competition was somewhat very disappointing.

In the FAI Junior Cup, Coachford had a reasonably decent adventure in this competition but, bowed out in early February of that season when they went down 1-2 away to Wicklow Rovers in the sixth round stage.

Wilton United met a very strong Sheriff YC team in their sixth-round tie in Dublin in late February and despite putting up a good effort, they went down 0-4 in the end.

After defeating Tolka Rovers 3-2 in the fifth round in February 12, Springfield A continued their fairytale journey until meeting up with Ballynanty Rovers from Limerick where they went down 1-3 against a quality side away from home.

It was a great performance by the Cobh side that actually went on to win the league one title in the AUL that season.

Then, in the fifth round of Munster Junior Cup, defeats followed for Springfield — 1-5 at home to Abbeyfeale; Kinsale going down 0-1 against Carrick United at home and Park United defeated 0-2 on penalties against Lisselton Rovers.