A new era begins at Ballina Town

By Stuart Tynan

IT has been a tremendous period of success for Ballina Town over the past few years.

Under the management of Mick Duffy from mid-2017, they won three consecutive Super Cups (and remain on course for a fourth), the Westaro Cup last season and romped to Super League glory in 2018, their first league title in five years.

But it is all change now this year following the departure of Duffy, with the management trio of Philip Devers, Mark Beattie and Jonathan Heffernan attempting to pick up where Duffy left off.

They bring excellent pedigree having lead the Ballina Town B side last year to the Castlecourt Hotel Premier Division Title, only dropping two points all season in an astonishingly dominant campaign and striker Benny Lavelle has been impressed with what he has seen so far.

“Micky (Duffy) had a great few years in charge with us and I suppose it's tough trying to take over from that. But the management team give a new outlook on things. It freshens things up and they have brought a really good atmosphere around the place.”

Departures

As well as Duffy, they have lost some valuable players on the pitch with experienced duo Cormac O'Malley and Derek Tansey gone from this campaign as well as the influential Dylan Edwards. But despite these setbacks, Lavelle believes his side still have plenty to challenge for honours come the business end of the season.

“We had a good year in the cups (last year). I suppose, bar the league, you can't do an awful lot more than that. This year, we will try and go one step further and win the league.

“Obviously the league is the one thing we go for at the start of every year. A personal target of mine would be to be top scorer but it's all about the team and we want to reclaim the league title.”

They begin their campaign on Sunday afternoon with a trip to Station Road when they Ballyhaunis Town, with kick-off at 2.30 p.m.

Pictured is Ballina Town striker Benny Lavelle. PHOTO: MICHAL DONNELLY