For everyone connected with Comber Rec FC the end of the current season has been deeply overshadowed by the passing of Adam Cowdy. The loss of this hugely popular and much loved young man has affected all who had the good fortune to know him, and has put everything into a different perspective. Park Way is going to miss his ready smile and good natured, sunny disposition.
As for the season itself, it bears a striking resemblance to the one before it, in that Rec reached a cup final and finished very close to the top of the league table, a highly commendable level of achievement.
Some supporters, perhaps understandably, are lamenting their team’s failure to win cup or league success, but this review is as good a time as any to take a reality check and to acknowledge the fine progress made by Jim O’Rourke and his managerial team. It’s not so long since a good season for Comber Rec was one in which they escaped relegation, and now they have reappeared as one of the top teams in the Premier Division of the Amateur League. How gratifying it was week after week to see Comber Rec sitting proudly at the very top of the table, the team to be caught and beaten by the rest of the pack.
The truth for Rec and for all the teams in every division is that no team has a kind of divine right to be winners. There is no celestial decree written in the stars that Rec must win. Every side starts a new season with its ambitions and hopes, but ambitions ought not to become concrete expectations, hopes should not solidify into insistent belief, otherwise undeserved criticisms and recrimination will arise if they are not fulfilled. In short, from Division 1A status Rec in a couple of seasons are back up there as one of the top sides in the top division, and disappointment at having won nothing should not obscure that degree of success.
Player unavailability and resultant unsettled selection led to a very poor start to the league campaign, and this, coupled with a weak finish to the season, undid all the excellent results achieved in a prolonged unbeaten run in mid season. The chasing teams had just too many games in hand to allow Rec to slip up. The start of the season was also calamitous when Ian Maitland incurred an injury at Albert Foundry which put him out of serious action for the rest of the year, a heavy blow for a great player and a major loss for the team.
For Comber Rec the mention of Albert Foundry recalls the shameful events of the abandoned match at Park Way and the subsequent rulings by the Amateur League. Suffice to say that Rec players, officials and fans will be very apprehensive about future visits to Paisley Park and would be well within their rights to insist upon the presence of League officials to see at first hand what reception and treatment they as visitors receive.
The big disappointment of the year was the Border Cup final. Nobody would deny that Abby Villa deserved their win; they wanted it more on the day and seemed better motivated, but for Comber fans it was a dispiriting occasion.
An analysis of performances throughout the year is revealing. The big majority of goals conceded came, not from good creative play by the opposition, but from defensive errors, and these resulted in nearly every case from players refusing to do the simple thing and clear their lines or find touch. Defensive positions are not the place to be taking on opponents, playing short passes, or keeping possession.
The acquisition of Gareth Larmour has been a key signing, and his selection, along with Ross Hagen and Jim McCloskey, for the Northern Ireland Amateur Panel, is well deserved. Congratulations to all three.
The Rec midfield has been at times excellent, playing fast fluent football and creating more chances than any team they have met all season. There is a tendency to want too many touches sometimes, but the skill and strength are there in rich measure, with Jim McCloskey’s smooth skilful running complemented by the power of Ross Hagen. The recent signing of Liam Mullen has been another first class decision by the busy and active management team.
Rec’s major requirement on the evidence of this season is a predatory striker, a marksman with a killer instinct who is not afraid to shoot on sight. Ask any Rec supporters on the line what the main team weakness is and it is a safe bet they will cite the reluctance to shoot, the weak shooting on target, or the failure to hit the target. Quite simply, Rec fail to put away chances that much poorer teams would gleefully hammer into the net.
Much that is good and positive can be taken from Comber Rec’s 2007/2008 season. A few signings in key areas, continuing support and encouragement for the players and management, and players making sure they are available for critical matches, will mean more success in the season ahead from a team that remains resolutely amateur in the real sense of the word.
