Breaking New Ground

Another chapter will be written in our club’s history this weekend when we host our first Football Tournaments out in Leuven on Saturday. There will be a Ladies Pan-European round and a Men’s Benelux Regional round to keep interested spectators busy. Whilst the hosting is significant in its own right, the men will further break new ground.

We will become the first team in Europe to field three teams in competition on the same day. It has been impossible to keep with the speed of growth of the men’s football. People to help with the management and also finding a pitch to accommodate the numbers are the main issues. Great problems to have.

We broke the 35 mark at training last night and tomorrow I expect between 45 and 50 players to proudly wear our jerseys and give their all for whichever team they have selected. With it being 11-a-side, we have three full squads and despite being aloud move guys up and down, we will not enact that rule so as to be fair to everyone in our panels and make sure they get sufficient game time.

Our second team has a serious looking edge to it and should have a minimum aim of qualifying from their group into the semi-finals. It’s the strongest team they’ve had with regulars like Ollie, Ruairi, Matti & Co joined by the new recruits Martin Brennan, Shane Ryan & Pearce O’Caoimh. The third team will be up against it but they are no motley crew either. Established players like Alec Elliott, Adrian Hiel, Conor Aylward and Mickey Keane will lead their charge alongside newcomers like keeper Brendan Lynch, Lorcan O’Flaherty and Liam Kelly.

The A team have a slightly rejigged outfit from previous tournaments with Rugby convert Diarmuid Laffan making his debut. Veteran Enda Rice returns and is joined by a former Belgian great Paul Gavin who makes a return to his spiritual home after being a mainstay on The Hague team for the last number of years. The panel will be completed with the pesky diminutive figure of former captain Stephen Cluxton, who lines out with us for the first time since Clare Island. Drawn in separate groups from rivals Den Hague, we will have to navigate through some tricky waters if we are to lock horns again. That’s the goal and hopefully we can drive on from our win at the previous tournament.

I expect our ladies to storm their competition with a star studded team. Caragh, Caoimhe, Sylvia and The Bomber have some quality support in intercounty talents Grainne, Ciara and one or two more. They too have a second team which should benefit from the filtering down of A team players.

An army under the command of Becky has been putting in phenomenal hours to make sure our club is represented in the best possible way and I’m sure their efforts will be reflected in the smooth operation that should result. It promises to be a fantastic occasion, hopefully one complete with some silverware at the evening function in de Valera’s on Saturday night.