Delanys hope underage work will sustain club going forward 

DELANYS chairman Ger Maher is hoping his club can progress when the 2021 season gets up and running with plenty of work going on behind the scenes at various levels.

Last season Delanys were defeated by Passage in the Seandún Junior A Football Championship final and Ger feels a change of management will see the team rediscover their kicking skills in the forthcoming campaign.

“The bottom line is that this team owes us nothing as many of them have been on the go for over a decade and hopefully this season we have a few new players that might freshen the squad up,” said Ger.

Aidan Dorgan was at the helm of the footballers in the last campaign but this season the former Mayfield hurling management duo of Eoin O’Mahony and Tony Hegarty have been given the assignment.

“Eoin is definitely on board and has indicated Tony may join him so the players will hopefully respond to the new coaching team,” added Maher.

For many years Delanys were a formidable hurling club but now find themselves competing in the Junior B level of Seandún hurling.

“The bottom line is that the numbers are not there, and it has to be addressed because we would like to be challenging for honours at a higher level.

“We have a few decent hurlers but we are well off the pace of the top clubs in the Seandún division and are working hard to bridge that gap.” 

The Delanys chairman explains many years without underage teams hurt the club but that is now being addressed.

“We now have a decent U12 football team in the boys' grade and we have a couple of young teams in ladies football and that has to be the foundation to bring the club forward.” 

A major housing project has been earmarked on the back of Delanys facility and that could be another huge boost for the club.

“For many years there was no road entrance into our pitches and that certainly hurt us as parents of kids in the Dublin Hill and surrounding community were reluctant to send their kids over to us.” 

The facilities at Delanys are now state of the art and they are on a major drive to get new members that ultimately will see the club competing at various levels.

“We are very proud of our facilities and we have plans to improve them further in the coming years and hopefully we can attract players of all ages to get involved with us.” 

For further details about how you can get involved with Delanys chairman Ger Maher can be contacted on 086-8243300.