Clarky Dempster said he was “emotional” after his beloved Orangefield secured their safety on the last day of the season.
While much else remains to be resolved in the division, not least who will finally claim a place in the top flight, for Dempster’s men, Saturday brought the curtain down on their current campaign, and they did it with a flourish in a high-pressure game, edging out Newcastle 4-2 at the Cregagh Sports Ground to make absolutely sure of their 1A status.
“I was saying earlier in the season that my objective was to remain in 1A and I couldn’t be prouder of the boys, they gave me everything,” said Dempster.
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“And it was emotional for me because I love the club, I’m a diehard Orangefield man and the fact they came out, and we survived, it was great.”
With Dunmurry Rec having already completed their season – their last game was a 2-1 win at Abbey Villa on March 26 – Orangefield knew three points in the last game of 21/22 would be enough to keep them up, leaving the Rec, Newcastle and Grove all sweating on their fates, with Downpatrick already relegated.
“A draw wouldn’t have done us any favours because we would have been relying on Grove in a couple of weeks’ time,” added Dempster.
“So I said to the boys, ‘Three points today lads, just get it done and dusted,’ and that’s exactly what they done.”
Orangefield treated the day like a cup final and in many ways it was for them, with everything boiling down to 90 minutes of football.
“It was a nervous ol’ day, I got the boys out for breakfast, just to settle the nerves and get a good atmosphere going, and ready for what was going to be a very important game for us,” Dempster told Match on Tuesday.
“And if it hadn’t have gone our way, at least I would have remembered the day, as the day was special.
“So I had a chat with them to relax them a bit. We started the game a wee bit shaky, but we took the lead, and got onto the front foot.
“But then they equalised and we were up against it, but we got another one just before half-time, and so my team-talk before half-time changed in a matter of minutes.
“And then we came out second half and it was all us, I told them not to give the ball away cheap.
“They are all still young lads and they were nervous, but I told them to relax on the ball, be calm and play football.
“We knew this season there were games where we would get points, and other games where we were going to be up against it, but we’ll give them a game.
“But anyone I have spoken to, Comber Rec, Kilmore, Dromara, they have all said the same thing, ‘Why you are down there is beyond me, you have such a talented wee squad.’
“We’ve a great wee unit there, sometimes we don’t get the luck of the draw but it’s good to get a bit of praise from the bigger clubs, we just need to stick at it.”
After securing his season’s objectives, Dempster wants to make the east Belfast side more ambitious in their outlook heading into next season, to think bigger than mere survival.
“My aim at the start of the season was to keep the boys I had, add to it, and stay in 1A,” he said.
“Those were my three goals and we’ve accomplished them all, so what we want to do now for next year is we’ll build, we’ll recruit, and the boys we have, we’ll get them fitter and sharper and start challenging further up the table rather than fighting relegation.
“We want to bring people here to what I think is one of the greatest clubs in east Belfast, it’s a great club, there’s a good atmosphere here, a good team spirit and they all play for the badge.”
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