Local football round-up: Willow Park step up and St Peter's appoint new boss

The new local football season is underway and already there's plenty to talk about.

Willow Park join the ranks of intermediate football when their season kicks off on Saturday night at home to St John Bosco.

Willow Park will play their football in the intermediate ranks of the Leinster Senior League this season, having earned promotion to the Senior 1B Sunday Division. Their first league game kicks off in DPD Park, Athlone, on Saturday at 7pm.

Willow Park have strengthened for the new campaign with the addition of Ryan Gaffey from Athlone Town, Kevin Daly, who last featured with Galway United, and Johnny Kiernan from Monksland Utd.

They have also retained the services of the vast majority of last season's squad.

Manager Declan Holohan is looking forward to the new season. 

“There's great excitement in the club about the new season, with intermediate football, the arrival of our new sponsors DPD and the new clubhouse development underway.

“We are really looking forward to playing intermediate football. It'll be a challenge for all of us in the club – but I'm confident that our playing squad will rise to the challenge.”

Meanwhile, there's a new manager at St Peter's ahead of the coming football season.

Padraig Moran (pictured below), the former Sligo Rovers, Derry City and Athlone Town player, has taken the helm at the Roscommon and District League premier division champions following the decision by Philip Coffey to step down.

Coffey had been at the helm for the club's opening game of the new season in the Connacht Champions Cup semi final defeat to Athenry but St Peter's announced on Tuesday that he had had decided to take a break after three years.

Under Coffey's tenure, Peter's won the CCFL Senior Division twice as well as securing a treble in their debut season in the Roscommon and District League.

Last evening, St Peter's announced that Moran, who had been at the helm of another Roscommon Premier Division club, Moore United, for the past five seasons, had been appointed as manager.

Moran was a former St Peter's schoolboy before signing for Hearts and subsequently returning to Ireland to line out for Sligo Rovers, Derry City and Athlone Town and later St Peter's.