When Its Good Its Great

When Championship time roles round the excuses begin to dry up and heads pop out from under every stone. Brian O'Regan used to goad the lads at home, heralding their return with his favourite phrase; 'ye smell a medal ye f**kers!' Different country, same behaviour. We had two of our most energetic sessions in months last Saturday and tonight.

Determined to enjoy the calm I have found in the last few months, I have cruised through the last few weeks and enjoyed each session. I even did the unheard of and allowed us play indoor soccer on some occassions. Of course, all the time I wondered why the numbers at girls training were so good, when they didn't even have a trainer alot of nights! Maybe thats the hint!! Seriously though, they all work in the same areas as the lads but still go out of their way to train. This is one reason why training girls can be more rewarding. When they commit to something, they show up religiously, listen and put in effort.

They don't miss training because they are eating Tiramasu (I'm going easy on you Rochey) or because they can't pull themselves together on a Saturday morning (i'm looking at you Hudson....and you too Ollie after I heard you live with him). They don't turn up and get sick after the warm-up either 'Star'. Still, as I say, I'm in a happy place. When Sheanon texts and says he can't make training because he has to be at work at 8 the next morning, I no longer rise to the bait.

Back to training. Saturday mornings are an awful time for it and its important to keep their concentration the entire time or their minds will wander. Gill and Clux were assigned warm-up duty with the clear direction to set a lively tone. We rattled through a series of competitive conditioned games with the minimum rest time.

Tonight was the same. A few ball drills and then straight into it. Fellas look lively and energetic. We've one session left on Wednesday night to ensure we carry that into the final tournament of the year in Maastricht. My only concern is that they don't have a resevoir of hard work and pain built up. That was the difference between Paris and ourselves on the last two occassions. They have the drive and the will. Say what you want, it makes a difference.

Our approach will be a pressure free one on Saturday. Just go out and play ball. Move it and yourself at pace. Block scores, kick scores, get the ball. We shouldn't win but we might just win. Why not? The pressure is on the rest and we have it in our locker to upset the best of them.