Wakehurst appeal for facilities boost

The club have to play all its matches outside of Ballymena – with 'home' games firstly at Tobermore and then at Moyola Park – and it took an inevitable toll as Wakehurst finished second bottom in the IFA Champiosnhip, their worst record for some years.

While lack of a ground which meets the criteria for intermediate football forced Wakehurst to look outside Ballymena, they also came up against the added obstacle of difficulty obtaining training facilities within their home borough.

"We need help from the borough to get us better training facilities. We're still talking to the Council and hopefully something will come out of that," said acting chairman Billy Erwin, who succeeded Ian Hunter, who stepped down during the season.

The move from Ballymena saw inevitable expense incurred in terms of travel costs and ground rent and Billy added: "It's getting harder and harder for the club – we have a small committee so we need as much help and as many ideas from outside as possible.

"I think we are in a false position – there are quite a few plusses to take from this year.

"I feel that the club is moving in the right direction even though we have had a traumatic year, but we will go from strength to strength next year," added Billy.

Manager Ian Gregg said: "Given the panel of players that we had, it's surprising we didn't do better but they always give 100 per cent for no payment – they play for the shirt."

Dependable defender Roy Colville won both the Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year trophies, while Gavin Burnside scooped the Leading Goalscorer award.