The Curse of Amsterdam

We’ve never been too enamoured about going up to ‘the Dam’ for a tournament as it has an awful habit of tangling itself up with bad luck. Two years ago, Conan awoke to find his car, Betsy, stolen. It had been nicked over night, along with some of the football gear. On the same day, Alan and his car full of lads was stopped outside Antwerp. The cops asked for paperwork that Alan could not provide and took his car instead. Remarkably, the lads made their way into Antwerp and got the train up to the tournament. Results on the day were not bad for a first outing but we got a severe humbling from Luxembourg which showed how far we had to travel.

Last year, a late change of date left us with a skeleton squad. I watched from the sideline, restricted by a wonky ankle and was quickly joined by Conchur who received a far more serious ankle injury which would keep him out for the year. The tournament was a disaster as we barely made it over the line, in last place!!

06h45 Saturday morning and the inevitable text came through. Conan’s shop was broken into overnight. The gurriers had been apprehended and nothing was stolen apparently but there was still the mess of broken glass and all the undoubted paperwork that needed to be gone through.

On top of that we had the usual couple of MIA’s. Micky, Martin and Killian were nowhere to be seen for various reasons. With an initial travelling party of 34, we were able to handle the few inevitable withdrawals. It was a big day for us and everyone realised the importance of starting the year with a decent showing.

There was a quiet satisfaction as I observed our A team warming up in one corner of the field and our B team warming up in another. Last year the B’s looked like a motley crew in an old set of salmon pink jerseys. On Saturday though, both teams were properly kitted out in club jerseys, socks and shorts. With numbers bulging, the investment in another kit was an absolute necessity. It was great to watch the other teams come in and see two distinct Belgian teams. For the the first time, we did not have to move players between the squads for the day.

The A team ended up with 14 after the couple of the withdrawals mentioned above. We had a good mix of lads who were versatile to play in many positions and that was invaluable as the day went on. We have a depth in the squad now that allows us to rotate lads and that will only improve when we get a few more guys back.

We beat Belgium B in the first game having shaken off their first half resistance. Lux were up next and by and large we dominated this game but they were awarded a fairly outrageous penalty which kept a low scoring affair closer than it possibly should have been. Our inability to convert our scoring chances all day proved a big issue. However, most lads haven’t seen a set of goalposts since January so we can address that when we return to the Parc next week.

Having beaten Amsterdam in our third game, we were left needing a draw or better against Den Hague in the final group game. We were waiting for a crack at them since last November when they beat us for the 8th time on the trot. It is a statistic which is hard to swallow considering we did the exact same to them in ’08.

We’ve a far greater hunger and application this year and it showed from the off. Our performance was characterised best by the performance of Crusher. He had started the day in very rusty and tentative fashion. We were all conscious that he needed time to get back into the swing of things after his serious knee injury. Rochey, commander in chief for the day, proposed to give him a break for the Lux game. All of us have unlimited belief in the Kilkenny man and it was a tough call to judge what his reaction would be.

It proved a masterstroke. When he returned to the fray he appeared as an improved version of the 2008 model and got straight into destroying everything in sight. In the first Hague game especially, he was immense. The defining moment was when he was suspended mid air with his man, who had just gained possession. By the time they landed, Crusher had stolen the ball and the march on him.

Back to the Hague game, which turned out to be a real war of attrition with scores at a premium and tensions rising all the time. They are a tough physical team with some very capable footballers. We believe we can match them though but needed a performance to reflect that.

Our tactics were simple enough, Timmy to start in goal, with Alec to swap in there in the second half. Myself and Bourkey would man mark their two sharp shooters. Our wing forwards would rotate between Colin, Jim and Shane and would work themselves to a halt whilst on the pitch. It was a frantic game and I’m not quite sure where the winning point came from but I think it was Sheanon who slotted over while there was a bit of a shamozle going on down the other end.

Whilst the 0-4 to 0-3 score line ensured qualification for the final, we were fairly aware that it was a nothing game from the Hague’s point of view in the sense that they had already qualified. The final would surely be a different story.

They meant business and kicked 0-3 unanswered points before we registered a score. Just before half-time we got a stroke of luck when one of their players was dismissed for a dangerous tackle. Myself and Rochey have to put our hands up and say we made a balls of the spare man and didn’t utilise him well. I’ve played the role numerous times over the years but was engaged in my own battle with my man on Saturday and didn’t want to move. I’m still not sure was the free man Crusher, Colin, Hudson or Keary! Lesson learned.

We worked our way back into the game but could not quite get back to level scores. Our efforts to work back negated our attacking threat as Eoin was often left up top on his own and the support could not get up quick enough. The Hague were deserving of their victory in the end, on a score line of 0-4 to 0-2.

It’s never nice losing in a final but there was a lot to be taken from the day, considering how low we felt at the end of last year. Our work rate and endeavour could not be falted. The backs were miserly in terms of scores and concession of frees. We have plenty to do on handling, kicking and shooting but that will come. The raw materials are there and the squad will be supplemented by 5/6 more lads in the coming weeks.

We’d rather have had Rochey on the pitch but the job he did on the line was invaluable. For me, I could just go out and play; no collecting money, dealing with warm-ups or making substitutions. Another help was Eoin Sheanon, who will be our the captain for the year. He has the respect of the lads and led by example on Saturday. Our styles and opinions differ but it’s time for another influence on matters and I think it will work will.

I did not go into depth about the B performance (there will be report on the website). There are a few things to remember for the lads in my opinion. One is that they play in the strongest region in Europe, host to the European Champions for the last four years. Any experienced footballer in the club will be on the A’s most likely. So the learning curve for the lads is steep, especially when their opponents are always the clubs #1 team and sprinkled with handy footballers. The most important thing for the group to reflect on is the fact that they put some excellent passages of play together in the games. If you can do something once, you can do it twice and three times and so on. The goal is to compete in the shield later in the year. That’s what the team is building for and it must not lose focus of that or be demotivated. If you have the balls to face down the teams they did on Saturday and keep coming back for more than the tide will eventually turn.

So all in all it wasn’t a bad start to the year. We can drive on from here and will expect to do so in Den Haag on April 10.