By Jonathan Brown
It’s turned into a golden anniversary in every sense of the word for Ballyvea, with the club’s reserve and third teams both securing league titles in this, Ballyvea’s 50th year. Johnny Tremlett’s reserve side secured the Mid-Ulster League Reserve Two title after Killymoon Rangers Reserves’ 5-3 defeat to Dromara Village IIIs on 2 May, while Samuel John Robinson’s thirds’ 3-1 win over Downpatrick Academy on 25 April sealed the McCall’s Newcastle League Division Two title, finishing two points ahead of Newcastle Town Forest.
Tremlett’s side wrapped up the season with a 2-0 triumph over Lurgan BBOB Reserves on Saturday, with Philip Hamilton and Harvey Gordon grabbing the goals. The former reserve team captain admitted that a title win wasn’t necessarily “on the agenda” this season.
“It’s a great achievement and one that wasn’t really on the agenda at the start of the year,” he said. “It was about consolidating and pushing for promotion from that point. I’m well aware that it’s a developmental squad at the end of the day; I need to provide players to go and do well for the first team. A few of the players have gone up [to play first team football] this year and the fact that the younger ones that have come in to replace them have performed well enough for us to win the league – it’s brilliant,” Tremlett said.
Tremlett has used 47 players this season, the majority of those being between the ages of 16 and 23. “It’s a brilliant achievement for such a young team – I’ve a couple of older heads who are in their early to late 30s, but by and large, the players I’ve used are all 16 to 23. In the last 12 to 15 years, it’s mainly been the first team that has done well in that time, but since Covid, we’ve had a bit of a generational transition at the club,” the reserve team manager explained.
It’s a special achievement for Tremlett, who manages the reserves alongside assistant Tyler Heal, as he has known many of his current players since their early days of kicking a football. The 29-year-old helped to coach the club’s first youth team, which was formed over ten years ago, before he moved to Scotland to attend university. Players like TJ Wallace, Lindsay Crutchley, and Christopher Campbell were all coached by Tremlett when they were younger, while the likes of Nathan Hamilton and Joshua Chestnutt, players Tremlett gave reserve team debuts to, have gone on to play for the first team this season.
“It feels really fulfilling when you give young players a chance and you come full circle with these sort of things, especially with certain players that you’ve known for so long. I tell my players all the time that I have every belief in them and that they can go out and win games, because they’re more than capable.”
In the full article, Samuel John Robinson reflects on the season and admits that he has still got a problem facing him.
