Goals achieved at Parnell’s

WHEN I was asked five years ago to get involved with the 2nd adult football side, the team were playing Division 3 Junior football and were in the Junior B championship.

At that time we spoke to the players and explained that Parnell’s were too big a club to have such a big gap in leagues between the Senior team and the Junior team. We told them that over the next few years we were going to do everything to get this team into the Intermediate league and championship football. At the time we were only getting 10 to 12 up training.

We started off poor in the league but went about getting the players back training and after a while we had over 20 bodies at the sessions. The buzz in the team became good, we started to motor and by the time the championship came along we were flying. That year, 2009, ended with us winning the Junior B championship and missing out by a point from being promoted.

In 2010 we went up as champions, won the Conlon Cup and got to the quarter final of the Junior A championship.

In 2011 we set out to win all competitions we were entered in which we did do. We won the league, the Stacey Cup and the biggest of them all, the Junior A Championship, which the club last won 28 years before. This meant the club now had a Senior and Intermediate football championship team and were one league off being Intermediate league.

In 2012 we missed out on promotion by a point and went out in the 3rd round of the championship. This year we set our target to win the league which we have achieved with two games to go, winning all 13 league games to date.

Our target is to win all 15 matches and we are still involved in the championship so the club has achieved what it set out to do – a senior and intermediate championship and league teams.

Special mention must go to all players and mentors who has been involved in this journey. Roll on next year!