A profile of Manager Dessie Mc Bennett
At 37 years of age I was contemplating quitting football, we were playing in the reserves in division four, we were very poor and there were no young players coming along a lot of potential future players were emigrating and left our team very low in numbers. I had previously trained two juvenile teams the U-14 and U-15s with Jim Connolly. I really didn’t want to quit football and when I got the opportunity to be a player manager in 1999 I was delighted to give it a go. That year I managed a very young side, there were at least eight to nine from the minor team and another eight from the U-21 team and a handful of senior players. But that didn’t stop us we went on that year and won the championship for the first time since 1974.
What motivated me was that I wanted to give back some of the experience that I had picked up through my years of football. Down through the year’s I had some great support from the chairperson and committee members and this made my job a lot easier.
The team were a great set of players from five to six different teams; they always worked hard at their game and were easy to manage because they wanted to succeed. I got the chance to go back and manage the team at senior level which was a great honour and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Chairperson PJ Meehan for giving me this opportunity. I’ve enjoyed all my years as manager even though we weren’t blessed with a big number of players, the team always performed to their highest standard and give 100% at all times. They always showed great determination and fight to win and I was delighted to be part of this team. I’m taking a break for now but you’d never know I might be back again.
A profile of Manager Trevor Duffy
I was very happy to get the opportunity to manage Doohamlet Senior Team from 2014-2016. After playing for Doohamlet I moved on to be a selector alongside some great football men like Dessie and Eamonn Mc Bennett. In the coming years I decided to get involved as manager in 2014. Doohamlet had been playing in the senior division in 2014 and it proved a difficult year for us.
The highlight of my term in management was the winning of the first ever intermediate double in our club, with the assistance of a great background team of Paul O Connor trainer and Gavin Duffy and Shane Mc Manus as selectors.
On the day Doohamlet entered Corduffs changing rooms the determination was evident that these players were a force that weren’t going to be denied an intermediate double. Probably for me it took a while to realise what these lads had achieved in becoming the first Doohamlet team to win an intermediate double, what a special and talented bunch of players they were. Not to take away from the achievement on the field but the highlight of the day was when PJ Meehan popped the champagne in the changing rooms, what a moment.
2016 saw us back in senior ranks again but circumstances contrived against us and we found ourselves in a battle against relegation which we lost. At this stage juvenile football begin to take a front seat in my life due to family members who were involved. With no regrets I stepped away from senior football after three fantastic years and many wonderful memories which I will keep with me for life.
Next week will be a profile on Colin Walshe.
Senior Football has been brought back to commence on the 26th of July. Doohamlet have been placed in group two along with, Killanny, Emyvale, Tyholland and Monaghan Harps.
Our first game is away to Monaghan Harps.
Our Juveniles are all back training with fixtures to follow.
Blotto resumes this weekend with a jackpot of €8600. A slight adjustment, Blotto is €2 for one envelope and €5 for three envelopes. Collectors will be back out in full force, we thank you for your continued support.
Cairde Dubhamlacht: We will be collecting this year’s development fund money from our members in the next few weeks. Thanking you all for your continued support.
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