Don Boscos stars do it in memory of Kian!

It has been an extraordinarily emotional week for everyone at Don Boscos, as the club’s 2007/08 squad celebrated winning the NIYFA Subway U18 National League title at the end of a season which started with the tragic loss of friend and team mate Kian Dawson-Kirk.

Back in August, Kian, and cousin Eoghan Dawson, both tragically passed away following a tragic single-vehicle crash at Quigley's Point. The 16-year-old was preparing for a new season with Don Boscos when the accident happened, and the loss broke the hearts of everyone at the club.

His team mates have since used the memory of Kian as inspiration to drive them to their first ever National league title, an incredible feat which they achieved this past week, with a 5-0 win over Hillsborough in their final game of an unimaginably difficult season.

Coach Davy Ferguson, who has been there every step of the way this season, is in awe at the boys’ achievements.

“Our first game was called off because of young Kian having the car accident,” he said. “Our first game then was actually against Moyola and there was a lot of emotion that night. Emmett, Kian’s father, and the boys’ coach, wasn’t there that night, but the boys went out and won 4-0 and that started it all off. We said that night “We’re going to go on and win this national league.”

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This wasn’t just a case of picking the boys up for the next game, this was about looking after them emotionally, nit just in the immediate aftermath of the accident, but for the weeks and months which followed.

“The emotions involved, not only for the boys for losing a team mate, but that team mate’s father being a coach for these boys for all those years also,” Davy continued.

“Emmett, understandably, couldn’t bring himself to come to the matches, so not only did we lose a team mate, we lost one of the main coaches for a bit as well. We gave them a short break, and brought them back to training. We got Youth Life, a counselling service, in to speak to the boys in a group session, just to gauge where they were at and see if they were ready to play football again.”

The Don Boscos players, with coach Davy Ferguson, at the graveside of team mate Kian.

“There were a few incidences where we had to speak to some of the boys on a one-to-one basis because they were struggling a bit. We also got Youth Life in to speak to some boys one-on-one, so that’s definitely helped, but the football has helped. It has kept them together and kept them focused, and I think without it, it would have been much more difficult.”

Momentum soon built after that opening day victory over Moyola, and the boys lost just one game and conceded just five goals on their way to their final fixture, a must-win game against Hillsborough played in Magherafelt.

“There were time when some of the boys were saying that they wanted to do it for Kian, and we all wanted the same outcome, but we still had a game to prepare for,” Davy recalled. “We needed to focus on that and not go in thinking the game was won and let emotions come into the match. Most team talks centred around emotions; we had a lot of talks before games centring around emotions, because what we didn’t want was boys lashing out during games.

“There was a lot of talking done, especially before this game. We knew what we had set out to do, and we knew how big of an ask it was, and we were finally there.

The match before that we had beaten Larne 2-0, and that for me was the pinnacle, where I thought we might go on and do this. A lot of the games were extremely tight but trying to set emotions aside before the final match, that was the big focus.”

The victorious Don Boscos 2007/08 team, who dedicated their title win to team mate Kian Dawson-Kirk.

It all came down to what they could do on the pitch, with some special guests on the sidelines there to add extra motivation.

“Coming up to the match Emmett, his wife, and Abigail, their daughter, came to the match,” Davy revealed. “I wasn’t expecting to see them. It puts that wee bit of pressure there because you’re thinking “We really need to do this now”. Then, at the end of the game, they brought out tributes to Kian and Hen that I didn’t know about, and I’m glad I didn’t, because as it was I was like a pressure cooker anyway walking up and down the sideline. I was glad they waited until after the game. I didn’t want to tempt with anything and we hadn’t changed anything in how we prepared for any other game. It’s just that bit of superstition that you have.”

“We started quickly and we should have been two or three up in the first five or six minutes. Then eventually, we got an early goal which I thought would settle the lads, but it didn’t. It wasn’t until we got an early goal at the start of the second half that the nerves started to calm down and they started to play the good football that they had done all year.

“We got a lot of messages from other coaches in the league saying they we deserved it because we had played the best football all year, and it was for other coaches to hear that.”

The club unveiled tributes to Kian, and Boscos coach John ‘Hen’ McDaid after the game, and fittingly, the team then visited Kian’s graveside to share their success with their team mate, leaving the league trophy there overnight in honour of their friend and brother.

“We had spoken about this,” Davy explained. “We left early to go to the game and we had talked abut going to the grave beforehand, myself and the other coaches. I spoke to Kian’s father as well, but we decided, we didn’t want to change anything, and we didn’t know how they would react. What we did was afterwards we went out there and all the boys paid their respects, and we left the trophy there overnight.”

Don Boscos coaches Liam Cooley, Davy Ferguson, Brian McCay and Emmett Kirk

“It was an emotional time, especially at the end of the match and especially when the tributes came out.”

“All the boys love talking about him, and that’s what really helps them. He’s constantly on their minds. The tributes to him will always be a memory they will always have now.”

“We’ve been blessed with a good bunch of lads, and we have great parents who have supported us. They have supported the boys the whole way through their football lives, and it’s a tribute to the club and the community itself that they have done that. We will never be able to thank them enough, especially this year for all the support they have given us. They have helped make a lasting tribute to young Kian, one that we’ll never forget.”