February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The crisis is so bad that Shamrock are seeking a rescheduling of their season-opener against New York Greek-American/Atlas at Msgr. McClancy from this Sunday to next Wednesday.
This is because four players, including the influential Bingo O’Driscoll, will be playing for Kerry in the GAA semifinal at Gaelic Park this Sunday.
“We’re in the process of signing up new players. Basically, we’ve lost all of our first team from the last two years,” John Guildea, back for a second stint as coach, said last week.
The departures began last fall as the Queens-based Rocks, one of the best sides in the CSL not to win the Div. 1 crown, sought to regain its old identity. During the winter break, big names such as Hughie Daley and Lucky Williams left while first team coach Billy Henderson stepped down.
There’s been no letup since with goalie Jim Keady, seasoned midfielder Mick Hennessy and fullback Freddy Fitzpatrick all recently switching allegiance to Div. 1 newcomers Lansdowne Bhoys.
“A big loss,” Guildea remarked.
Amid rumors of the exodus threatening the very existence of the Shamrock organization — which dates back to 1960 and is the flagship Irish club in the CSL — the Rocks responded by regrouping and downsizing.
From four teams in the CSL last season, Shamrock will go into the 2004-05 season with just two: the first XI and the reserves.
Gone are Shamrock’s Metro Div. I side coached by Sean Keogh, who is now in charge of the reserves, and the Over-30 outfit previously led by Guildea and Eugene Smyth.
“It was a tough decision,” Guildea said of the club’s move. “I was happy in the Over-30s and we’d probably have won something this year. But the future of the club was more important.”
While some of the players from the two disbanded teams have moved on, quite a few have been absorbed into the senior side and reserves.
“We’re hoping that with the players from the Over-30s and whatever is left of the [metro team], we’ll have enough players to get going,” Guildea said.
Off the pitch, Joe Behan, Dermot Clarke, Eltin Colman and Smyth will help Guildea and Keogh keep Shamrock on an even keel.
One of Shamrock’s most successful coaches, Guildea expects early turbulence in the season.
“The first couple of weeks might be sticky,” he admitted. “But we’ll be back pretty soon.”
Guildea, who replaces interim coaches Paul Wilson and Darren Thunder, is no stranger to success with the Rocks. The 39-year-old was in charge, along with Wilson, when Shamrock beat New York Albanians 4-3 on penalties to lift the CSL League Cup in 1999. They then went on to make CSL history by retaining the cup the next year.
Shamrock ended last season third in the six-team Div. 1 West. The CSL top flight has been expanded since with two sections of seven teams.
IRISH DERBY
Although they are not scheduled to meet in the league until next spring, Shamrock are salivating over their imminent local derby with newly promoted Lansdowne Bhoys.
And the fire may have been stoked for this nascent rivalry by the defection to Lansdowne of Keady, Hennessy and Fitzpatrick.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Guildea remarked. “We haven’t had an [Irish] derby in the First Division since St. Barnabas folded.”
“We’re still the premier Irish club in New York,” he added.
The Saints, who played out of the Bronx, disbanded three years ago after losing many players.