President's Welcome

As if on autopilot, my fingers always type “good evening and welcome to Richmond Park” as the introduction to these programme notes. The reality of course is that you’re not in Richmond Park and you may well be reading this at any time of the day or night. Nonetheless, you’re with us in spirit for this evening’s game and your support continues to be as important as ever.

I hope you feel that the team has rewarded your support in the opening games of the season. When the fixture compiler decided that for our first three matches we’d travel to last year’s champions and runners-up either side of a visit from the First Division champions, even the most optimistic of you probably didn’t expect that run to conclude with St Pats sitting proudly on top of the table - albeit as joint leaders with Sligo and Harps. However, the team has delivered solid and efficient performances leading in turn to excellent results.

The league table has a fresh look about it at this early stage. Quite a few teams are certainly not placed in or around where the pundits expected them to be. In my opinion, the most telling statistic is that, of the 14 games played to date, only 1 has had more than a goal between the teams. All the signs are that this is going to be an extremely competitive season, where no result can be taken for granted and points are going to have to be earned through

commitment and hard work. I’m in no doubt that we have the players and management team to ensure that we won’t be lacking in either of those qualities.