IVAN Kingston insists the best is yet to come for Bantry Blues’ young footballers, despite relinquishing their Carbery U21A football crown.
This group has been on a rollercoaster journey over the past few seasons. After winning the U21B title in 2023, they captured U21A glory at the first attempt in 2024, and then battled into the final this season before coming up short against Ibane Gaels.
Manager Kingston has no qualms about the result, but he is confident these Bantry young guns will make a mark with the club’s adult team. In fact, many already are.
‘I can’t fault our lads. They tried and they tried, and gave 100 percent like they always do. They are an unbelievable group to work with,’ Kingston said.
‘Fair play to Ibane, they took their chances tonight. When they got on top in the last five, ten minutes, they drove it home. They thoroughly deserved it,’ he added, while admitting a Bantry victory could have had a ripple effect in the club, with the premier intermediates preparing for a must-win championship game against Nemo Rangers on September 13th.
‘Ideally, a win would have lifted the spirits going into the last game against Nemo, but the club has to pull these guys through, and they will,’ Kingston said.
‘We have a great bunch of lads here who have played in really high divisions of football – they played Premier 1 at minor, Premier 2 at U15s and U16s, Premier 1 at U14 – so this is a good bunch. It’s not the last we see of them, I can promise you that.’
In Bantry’s recent PIFC defeat to Aghada, Dara Sheedy, Jack Sheedy, Paddy Cronin, Mark Óg O’Sullivan, Conor Cronin and Cillian O’Brien all started, while Michael O’Donovan came on. That’s encouraging for Bantry in the long term, and Kingston is convinced more talent will continue to come off the conveyor belt in the seasons ahead.
Both Mark Óg O’Sullivan and Dara Sheedy have also featured with the Cork U20s, showing the calibre of the squad. Bantry may have lost this battle in Dunmanway – and Kingston admits the better team on the night won – but the bigger picture suggests the club could be strengthened by a generation of young players benefiting from consistently competing for trophies at underage level.
