While they may not have had to kick a ball this weekend, Villa FC will be in celebration mode as the club secured the Azzurri Premier League title.
Conor Coad's team knew that providing Hib's dropped points in their game with Waterford Crystal the title would be theirs.
Hibs did drop points - all of them to be precise - with Crystal running out as comfortable 6-2 winners.
The home side took the lead after 7 minutes through Andrew Power. 20 minutes later, Jeff de Silva made it a level game, but Crystal responded through Barry Ryan just on the stroke of halftime to go 2-1 up.
Brandon Deady made it 3-1 before the hour mark, and while Conor Whittle added Hib's second goal from the penalty spot after 73 minutes, but was a case of too little too late. Crystal would score twice more before the end of play with two quick-fire goals from Brandon Deady and Jake Mooney, both bagging their second goals of the contest.
💚🏆🤍🏆💚 pic.twitter.com/CfxmJn38Zf
— Villa FC Waterford (@VillaFC1953) April 23, 2023
Speaking to Adrian Flanagan, Villa manager Conor Coad says, "it was a funny way to win it in terms of not playing ourselves obviously, but it doesn't matter too much how it's done."
"A huge effort from the players and the coaching staff all year and it's great to get over the line and great to get a second-ever Premier League title in the club's history."
A roller coaster 2022 saw Villa playing on several fronts. They needed to balance league commitments with cup competitions outside the county and claimed the FAI Centenary Junior Cup title, beating Pike Rovers 1-0 at Turners Cross.
It would have been normal to expect some fallout from their record-breaking 2022 season. The Junior Cup success was always going to leave a hangover to be dealt with at the start of the 2023 campaign and Coad points out that there while they had aimed to win the league, the less expected success in the Cup meant that the players needed to be re-centered and put back on track before returning to the local league.
"Yeah, like a hangover, but great for the lads to be able to go and replicate the league success this year because the league is our bread and butter. "
The other element that needed to be dealt with was the coming and going of players from the squad. While it is not an insignificant factor in their year, Coad says it's to be expected in junior soccer.
"You'll have players who might go away for a period of time, they might have changed circumstances with work or with college. We've had our share of injuries and suspensions this year as well. It has been a long year, and it's been a tricky year".
Villa needed to deal with a lot of extra fixtures in this campaign - the Munster Champions Cup, Presidents Cup, Tom Hand Cup & FAI Senior Cup all added up to amount to a heavy schedule of play, while all the while trying to maintain their run in the Premier League.
Ending their year with their hands once again on the Waterford Premier League trophy, it could not have been more cleanly for Villa. Having played 15 games, their record speaks for itself.
14 wins, 1 draw & 0 losses.
Only Bohemians managed to take a point off them all year. Coad's side crossed the line with 13 points and three games to spare.
"The league is all about being consistent. It's about - over the course of the season - every game you play, approaching it the right way. We've been able to do that with our league form, it's been very strong."
"If we look at our goals for and goals against, our averages are pretty much where we want them to be. With cup football, it's always on the day and you always need that little element of luck and bits & pieces can go for you or go against you, but in terms of our league form, it's been really solid and we've been happy with it. It's about keeping it at that level going into next season."
So, what comes next for Villa? Are their eyes on making it three in a row? Well, Coad says that the journey they've been on this year has thought them that it's tougher to defend than it is to challenge.
Once the target is on your back, you need to be on your game every day or risk the consequences of becoming a scalp that every other team wants to take.
"It's something that might take a bit of time to get used to, but I think we have the kind of group of players who relish that and it brings them on a level once we became accustomed to that".
