City in Seventh Heaven against Salthill Devon

The League of Ireland Under 19 season may only be two weeks old, but Stuart Ashton’s Cork City have already sent out a warning shot to their rivals that they have a fourth consecutive title in their cross-hairs.

An opening day 4-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers Under 19s was followed by a 7-2 dismantling of Salthill Devon in Bishopstown on Sunday, to see the Rebel Army go top of the Under 19 Southern Elite Division. After the game, Extratime.ie caught up with Cork City striker Connor Ellis who was refusing to get ahead of himself despite the emphatic nature of his side’s win.

“It was a very good performance as a team. We got a penalty early on and they went down to ten which helped us and set us on our way. It could have been different if that didn’t happen but we had a good result last week and we just said we’d take one game at a time. We got a good result this week so we go onto next week positive.”

For Ellis, the return of the Under 19 season had been a long time coming and he is relishing being back on the pitch.

“I suppose winning the league last year you’re itching for it to start and to defend your title. It seemed to drag alright, but we had a good pre-season and we did well in the friendlies and we felt there was a good gel in the squad and everyone gets on well with each other. We’ll take it one game at a time and we feel we’re ready to defend our title again.”

Cork City may have won the last three Under 19 titles, but the nature of the competition means that players move on and each summer the coaches are left to assemble a new side and try and get their young footballers to gel as a team. Indeed many of Ashton’s players from last season are too old to compete in this year’s competition.

Ellis himself played for Cork schoolboy team Leeds before joining the Rebel Army last November and with many players having only joined during the summer, I ask him how his new teammates are settling in at the club.

“We all get on well, but that’s credit to the coaches. They got us in early in the summer and they spent a lot of time with us working together. We spend a lot of time bonding and we’ve really got a good group, everyone is pulling in the one direction so it’s very positive.”

Since his switch to Cork City, Ellis has featured for the Republic of Ireland Under 17 side and he is quick to point to the impact of his coaches Stuart Ashton and Paul Bowdren on his game so far.

“Stuart and Paul are the best coaches I’ve ever had. They’ve brought my game on a lot and they talk a lot of sense and certainly being in the presence of them and playing for them brings you on a lot as a player. That’s why you love playing for them.”

Ashton and Bowdren have been at the helm of Cork City’s underage structure for a number of years now, and have overseen the progression of a host of talented young players into the Cork City first team. Knowing that players who have starred for the under 19s have gone on to play in the League of Ireland proper, I ask Ellis does he take encouragement from his predecessors and their successes?

“Definitely. The likes of Kav [John Kavanagh] and Bucks [Garry Buckley] show that there is a route and if you’re good enough that you do get a chance, which is great. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the country and they’re willing to still give the youth a chance which is really encouraging for the likes of myself. It makes you genuinely believe that you can get into the team, and then if you’re doing the business, the likes of Lenny [Brian Lenihan] going over last week shows that there are opportunities to get over to England and make a career for yourself.”

Last season, while still only 16, Ellis started 11 games and came off the bench twice for the Cork City Under 19 team. In those games he found the back of the net an impressive 11 times making him the Rebel Army’s second top scorer in the league after Greg Harte who scored 21 goals in 20 starts and one sub appearance.

Since then, Harte has turned 19 and has accepted a soccer scholarship to San José State University. With his departure depriving Cork City of their primary goal source from last year, I ask Ellis (who already has three goals in two games this campaign) does he feel under pressure to replace Harte’s goal contribution.

 “Well obviously it’s hard to step into Hartey’s shoes, but I felt that I had a good season last year so I just want to kick on and do the best I can. We have a good squad and we’ve got goals coming in from all over the place which is the best thing. We’re not just relying on one or two to score and the service we’re getting in from midfield is top class. It makes our life easier as strikers because they’re putting the goals almost on a plate for us.”

Next up for Cork City is a trip to their neighbours Cobh Ramblers next Saturday (kick off 5pm). It was Ramblers who last season knocked Cork City out of the Enda McGuill Cup – denying them the double, and I ask Ellis is that something that will be on the players’ minds going into the game.

“To a certain extent you want to put the record straight, but it’s just another game. We said at the start of the season that our aim was to retain our title and get four in a row and perhaps do the double, so we’re taking it just one game at a time. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves because we’ve won two games and scored eleven goals. We’re taking it one game at a time, and that’s the next game so it’s the most important game. So we’ll prepare properly for it at training during the week and we’ll ready to go and hopefully we can get another positive result.

“Cobh have a very good squad this year. That’s what you want. You want to be playing in these games. They’re local rivals and there will hopefully be a good crowd against another good team. It’s another chance to test yourself on the biggest level at this age group.”