Walterstown GAA club awards night
That 35-year wait for a Championship trophy for Walterstown was recalled at the clubshouse last weekend.
The wait finally came to an end last year when they won their first adult title since 1984, claiming the Junior C FC title at the expense of Dunderry.
Captained by Davy Maguire, Walterstown won the decider by 0-12 to 1-4 after leading by 0-8 to 1-1 at the interval.
Last Friday night they celebrated that victory again with a medal presentation while they also unveiled their junior player of the year, intermediate player of the year and the clubperson of the year.
JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR PRESENTATION
The last man to guide the Blacks to a junior title (1978) was Michael O’Brien and he was on hand to present the winners medals to the latest crop of players to bring a trophy back to the club.
Chairman Stan Cooney spoke of his hopes that the junior victory will be the start of a new era for the club, just like it was back in 1978.
On the back of winning the Junior and indeed the SFC title in 1978 Walterstown went on to win the Keegan Cup in 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1984.
With the 2020 club season just one game old for Walterstown, their main aim is to get back to the senior ranks next year.
Last year’s Junior C team, managed by Robbie Barrett, mostly consisted of young, up-and-coming players who will be keen to impress and make intermediate boss Martin O’Connell take notice.
One of those players, Cormac Freeman, was named as the junior player of the year, a well deserved accolade for the young defender.
Walterstown reached the quarter final of the intermediate championship where they bowed out to eventual winners Nobber in Trim.
SUCCESSFUL WALTERSTOWN MANAGERS - YEARS APART
The Blacks have a number of young players including Barry O’Connell and Conor Farrelly who are already making their mark with the Meath u-20 team.
However, it was the more experienced Alban Crosbie who picked up the overall player of the year award.
Crosbie has been a loyal servant and was a worthy and popular winner of the award.
For the final award, it was remarked that every club relies on an army of volunteers to keep going year after year and Walterstown is no different.
“Picking a clubperson of the year isn’t an easy task,” stated club PRO Ruth Chambers.
“That wasn’t the case this year as the award went to Brian Farrell who is the club’s registrar, former PRO, the man who looked after all the pitch bookings and all the IT issues amongst many, many other things.
“A man of few words who prefers to just get the job done and the club would certainly be lost without him,” she added.
CLUBPERSON OF THE YEAR PRESENTATION
