Ciarán Bond says that this weekend presents a “good opportunity” for Dundalk Youths to open up a commanding lead at the top of the DDSL U18 Super League when they entertain third-placed Saint Kevin’s at Oriel Park next Sunday morning (13 December) at 11am. The young Lilywhites, currently pacesetters, have opened the season superbly with six wins and a draw in their opening seven games, and another win over Saint Kevin’s, who they defeated 3-1 on the opening day of the season, would see them go five points clear of nearest rivals Crumlin United.

‘Big game’
“It’s a big game,” Bond told dundalkfc.com. “It’s a good opportunity for us to go six points clear of Saint Kevin’s Boys, with a game in hand. And, at this stage of the season, almost halfway through, it would be a good time for us to put a gap between us and Saint Kevin’s. It would possibly put them out of the equation. We played them away in the first game of the season and we won 3-1, but, to be honest, we could have been beaten 3-1. They missed three or four good chances in the first half, and in the second half, when we were a goal down, we scored three goals late on. It was a great win away from home, but, to be honest, we shouldn’t have won the game.

Kevin’s threat
“They have already beaten Crumlin this year,” he continued, “and they’re the only team to do that so far,” before the former Muirhevnamor boss added that he felt that Saint Kevin’s are probably Dundalk’s biggest threat this term. “I think, without a doubt – they’re only one point behind Crumlin with the same games played,” he said. “I think if we win on Sunday, it will give us a massive boost for the season. I think if you look at the table at the moment, you have Crumlin, Saint Kevin’s and Saint Joseph’s – those and ourselves – it will go down to how we do against each other.” Dundalk have not been in action since 15 November when they defeated Saint Patrick’s Athletic 6-0 at Oriel Park, with the young Lilywhites now facing a backlog of fixtures. “We’re not involved in the two cup competitions having been knocked out in the early rounds,” Bond explained. “And we’re basically trying to get games against teams that haven’t played us already in the first series, so it’s a wee bit difficult.

Earlier finish
“Plus, because of the bad weather of late, the last two games have been cancelled,” he added. “This time last year, over Christmas, we slotted in a few missed games, so we’ll try to do the same again. Our aim is to get the season over a wee bit quicker than it was last year. Last year, it went right into May, so we would be looking to finish at the end of March or April, because the U20 season will be starting at approximately the same time as the League of Ireland season. It is officially a break now, but we have two games still to play in the first series after Saint Kevin’s, so we would be hoping to get Ballyfermot and Saint Paul’s played prior to the start of the season again in January.”

Title aim
Bond led his side to a 19-match unbeaten run last term before losing at home to Crumlin on the final day, thus heartbreakingly losing out on the league title, something which the boss hopes does not happen again. “We went all guns blazing last year too, and we’re pretty much in the same situation now,” he said. “You know this league – this time last year, we were top of the league, we went through the whole season right to the last game and then lost it. We’d be hoping this year to go one step further and win it. The game this weekend is one of the big games. If we could put a six-point gap between ourselves and Saint Kevin’s, it would be great.” Bond wishes to sincerely thank first-team kit manager Gerry Watters for the donation of gear to the Youths team for the 2009/10 season.

Development programme
Meanwhile, the club’s programme for educating the Youths and U20s team management, which will see all coaches qualified up to UEFA B level by the end of 2010, is well on course The programme was started in September 2008 by the Youth Development Committee, which is headed by Kevin Holland and Paddy Greene. Bond, who currently has a Youth Cert, has finished his UEFA B Licence and will sit the exam next February. Youths coach John Whyte, a current A-Licence holder, will simultaneously be undertaking exams for tutoring Youth Cert and UEFA B Licences. Youth Development Officer Martin Connolly is already UEFA B qualified and will be sitting his A-Licence in February, while Youths coach Raymond Trimble already has a Youth Cert and will sit his UEFA B Licence in February. Colin Thompson, another Youths coach, will at the same time be doing his Youth Cert. Meanwhile, Alan Browne, who only joined the Youths setup at Oriel Park this year, is due to sit the Youth Cert this month.