Cronin sets DLR sights on top four

The return of competitive football is something we have all been longing for and it is fair to say that is especially true in the case of DLR Waves captain Catherine Cronin, even though she acknowledges she may find it hard to ensure a place in Graham Kelly’s team such is the quality of additions to the DLR squad.

Away from football Catherine works as a nurse in St Vincent’s Hospital while she is also planning her wedding which will be celebrated during the league’s mid-season break in June. Although the roles of nurse and midfielder may seem worlds apart, after a year like no other Catherine was able to point out that there are similarities because everybody has had unexpected challenges thrown at them over the past year.

“Being part of a team, supporting each other,” are the obvious similarities Catherine explained. “The work environment hasn’t been the easiest for the past year but I have had great colleagues and people around me making it that bit easier. If you transfer that directly over to football, everyone is going through a difficult time at the moment so to be able to put your arm around the girl on the field with you and get her through and stay strong.

“Football is something that we are privileged to be able to do and just go out and enjoy it and let that be 90 minutes that you can just forget about everything that is going on and maybe just forget about the pandemic for a while.”

Looking ahead to the challenges that the 2021 season will bring Catherine is first and foremost delighted to be back but she is also determined to see DLR Waves capitalise on their full potential.

“It’s brilliant to be back training. We’re very, very lucky and is definitely a good outlet for everyone being able to get out, go training and come home again.

“We’ve has some brilliant signings this season. I think everyone has gelled really well together. As a team there is a good mix of youth and experience. Getting players from Peamount with a real winning environment can only bring this team on. We’ve had some brilliant signing this year and I can’t wait to see how things go once we get started.”

In fact such is the quality that DLR Waves now possess, Cronin is adamant she can not consider herself a guaranteed starter.

“Absolutely not! I think there is two or three players for every position. I’ve really noticed the standard has been raised so much. I can’t wait to get to training because you don’t know who is going to be in the starting team. You want to be there, you want to perform week in, week out. That has really helped the standard coming on and nobody wants to miss a session or be late. They want to be in the starting eleven.”

Looking ahead to how the season may pan out for DLR Waves, Cronin believes a top four finish is a realistic target.

“We definitely want to be in that top four bracket, definitely in the upper half of the table. We will be aiming high and we will have our own goals but we’ll just keep the head down and try and go under the radar, get the job done and hopefully we’ll have met the goal of being potentially in the top four at the end of the season.”