Ballymackey set up to challenge Harps dominance

SOCCER: North Tipperary & District League Season Preview

By Gary Culbert

There could be a seismic shift at the very top of the North Tipperary & District League Premier Division this season, as a new challenger – Ballymackey - enter the fold in the hope of pushing BT Harps to their absolute limit in each and every competition.

BT HARPS

BT Harps have not gone anywhere and will still be most people’s favourites for the title. The quadruple winners – now spearheaded by Johnny Coleman - have made plenty of signings with Stevie Nolan and Lorcan Campion’s return to the club standing out amongst others in a busy transfer window.

Shane Purcell has returned to the management team, meaning two out of the four backroom staff are still knocking around from the quadruple winning season.

Ben Stapleton and Brian Mitchell will have to be replaced in wide areas, with Coleman opting to utilise the academy to move things around up to now, which has resulted in youth players Kailum O’Meara and Joe Foy getting plenty of game time in the shield.

One issue that they will have to attend to – that no other manager in the league will have to deal with – is losing a player to international duty. Back in March, Sean Paddy Guerins captained Munster to the 2026 FAI Amateur Inter-Provincial Tournament, thus earning the right to represent Ireland at the UEFA Regions’ Cup, Europe’s top amateur football competition and qualifying starts in November in Cork. Ireland are the host nation for their Group B games against Belarus, Croatia and Malta.

BALLYMACKEY

The only question is – having lost to the Templemore men in two cup finals last season - can Ballymackey finally shake off the ‘nearly men’ tag? If they are to, it will be in no small part down to their new signings, who have mostly come from Nenagh AFC’s second team.

What a rollercoaster of a transfer window it has been for Ballymackey. At times last season, it teetered on a knife edge, as both White brothers flirted with clubs near and far, but at the eleventh hour they returned home, and that’s when things really started to fall into place for the management duo George Haverty and Damien Bentley.

What started as a trickle from Nenagh with Taylor Duffy the first to make the move – soon became a steady flow to Ballinree, as Darragh McDonnell, Paddy Alonso, Johno Lawlor and Dylan Kennedy all switched blue for navy & red.

Scoring goals was never really the issue for Ballymackey last season; keeping them out at the other end was. Duffy and McDonnell will slot straight into the team as goalkeeper and centre-half respectively, which should see the leaking of goals slow down to a drip.

Most of the incoming Nenagh cohort have played for the club before, and that theme continues with some of ‘Mackey’s other signings.

Denis Haverty, son of manager George, returns from Cork with Donoughmore Athletic to bulk up the midfield, while impressive defender Darragh Spillane links up with his younger brother Cathal. The older of the Spillane’s has seen his stock rise through the shield campaign with commentators noting how he is a player who loves to defend – which is a rarity these days.

One player who might not love to defend, but who will be doing lots of it this season is Eamonn White. Never a man for the limelight, the younger of the White brothers has the ability to drive Ballymackey to multiple honours this season from his new centre half berth. He might not even like to admit it himself, but he does his best work from centre half, walking out of defence with the ball at his feet, setting the tempo for the entire team. However, he epitomises the challenges that Ballymackey will have this year. He has all the ability in the world and Ballymackey have all the tools required to go and lift the title, the only thing that can stop them is themselves.

It sounds a bit cryptic, but in less vague terms they have two challenges. Firstly, and most importantly, is to keep themselves grounded: having won 9-3 away to Portumna Town in their first shield game, and 8-1 away to Shinrone United in their second game, it would be easy to get carried away and start planning the trophy celebrations, but a long hard slog of a winter season awaits. Indeed, you can never take three points for granted in the NT&DL, as Harps found out at time last season.

The second challenge is to not lose the head when things aren’t going well. Ballymackey will have scars from their days as a defensively frail team, but they have to get out of that mindset. Even if they go behind in a game, there is no need to throw the baby out of the bathwater, they have all the tools to win games, just keep the head.

With all the new signings in the door it is easy to overlook the up-and-coming talent from their famed academy. Jack & James Kenneally have been in and around the squad for a few seasons now, but it finally looks like it is going to be a breakout year for the first cousins.

James is a light, slight, and at first glance a fairly unassuming forward, but the beauty of football is that you don’t necessarily have to be the biggest, strongest, or fastest man to achieve great things. The 19-year-old has already netted seven goals in the first two shield games but even before that his quick feet and eye for goal were being noticed by commentators around the league.

MONEYGALL

As ever, Moneygall have not made any huge splashes in the transfer market; manager Billy Hayes prefers to keep a settled group that he knows and trusts. Much like how the club is successfully run, stability and constant growth is key to success.

Having lost only three league games in the last two seasons, Moneygall had no real major need to go out and change the player pool anyways, but what they have done is even more transformative for both the team and the league.

Arsene Wenger is credited with changing the culture of Arsenal and indeed the Premier League by using scientific data to introduce change around diets, recovery, and fitness. It is no great leap to say that, during the summer, Moneygall became trailblazers in their own right when they hired professional coaches for the upcoming 2026/27 season by securing the services of Cillian Fitzpatrick and Danny Molloy of CEC Sport.

Fitzpatrick is a Moneygall native and head of academy at Athlone Town while Danny Molloy is the lead pathway coach at CK United. Both hold UEFA Elite Youth A coaching badges, and will no-doubt add an extra element to Moneygall’s play. All age groups of the club will benefit from the coaching on offer, as following years of investment in facilities off the field, the club now looks to invest financially in the type of football they play on the field.

SHINRONE UNITED

Derek McLoughlin began his second stint in charge of Shinrone United with the impressive signing of native son Simon Hayes from Highfield United.

With 22 goals in all competitions last season in the CCFL First Division, Hayes is no-doubt going to light up the NT&DL this season. The 23-year-old striker demonstrated his raw pace, direct aggressive running, and the composure to pick out the perfect pass after running the length of the field on his debut in Shinrone’s 3-2 win away to Rearcross.

The Offaly outfit will be right in the thick of the title race this season, and if everyone stays fit, they can take points off any team. However, by Shinrone’s very nature of being a small village side with no underage teams, they will find it hard to compete with the squad depth of the other contenders.

PORTUMNA TOWN

Newly promoted Portumna Town have been weakened more than any other side during the off-season, suffering key losses from their starting eleven to emigration – both internationally and nationally. It is a story that is not new for any rural village or town, but the sheer volume and quality of players moving on will leave manager Mark O’Sullivan with a much harder task this season.

Skipper and key central midfielder Oisin O’Sullivan has left for Australia while his younger brother and prodigy striker Michael is putting all his focus into his studies in Galway this season as has exciting and tenacious young winger David Greenwood to Dublin. Similarly, having single-handedly turned the tide in the Barry Cup final last season, central midfielder Martin Tuohy has moved to Dublin for a job opportunity.

Those four players would have been some of the first names on the team-sheet but luckily for the youngest manager in the NT&DL, he had a very strong bench last season. However, O’Sullivan’s woes have been compounded by the fact that two of the first names on the list to replace the departees are also exiting the squad: experienced centre half Matthew Roche is retiring while Alan O’Meara is another with Lorrha man now in Australia.

All things considered it has been a hammer blow to Portumna’s hopes. Had they kept everyone together, there was a genuine chance of challenging for the title this season: it is now more likely that we see the Galway men finish in the upper reaches of mid-table instead.

It is not all bad news on the transfer front though, as former East Galway FC striker Cian Forde has linked back up with his former gaffer. The 22-year-old looks a very exciting prospect, and having taken his goal in the shield very well is certainly a player to keep an close eye on this season. Forde had flirted with Ardcroney during the window, but it was the pull of one of the most exciting managers in the league, 27-year-old Mark O’Sullivan, that saw him withdraw his transfer to Ardcroney at the eleventh hour.

Rearcross, Ardcroney & Holycross

Both Rearcross and Ardcroney have the capability to take points off anyone on any given day.

Having won just two out of their last 28 games (when walkover victories are removed), Holycross are expected to finish bottom of the pile.

At this stage it unknown how many teams will be relegated from the Premier Division this season, but with Holycross likely propping up the table, you would imagine that two relegation spots will be needed to ensure any level of jeopardy for teams in the lower half.