House In Order

You find people on ‘the continent’ tend to holiday in August much more than the Irish do. As a result, in recent seasons, we’d take a few sessions off as numbers would have diminished too much during this period. This year, we decided to plough on and it has proved very worthwhile.

Three weeks ago, we started our preparation for Munich and warned the lads that there were some tasty sessions in store. Right from the first night, the lads have flogged themselves. Rochey took charge in my absence and kept the momentum going. Stories of near mutiny & fellas getting sick filtered back via text.

I mentioned in a blog a few weeks ago that I was worried that the lads might not realise what is in store when they hit the Championship and Shield series. All the indications are that they do though and there was serious hunger in their faces as they flew through the ‘kamikaze’ at training tonight.

Most impressive was how well Paul Gavin and Enda Rice were going tonight. They are the elder statesmen of the team but are going to be key to how we do in the coming months. Paul relocated here from The Hague this year and it has been a busy time for himself and his young family. He’s a serious footballer though with a great head for it.
Enda has been a mainstay since we kicked off in ’08. I’d have massive time for him too. Over the last couple of years he has popped up with some big scores and his ability to change the direction of play and adapt his game is second to none. In Luxembourg in June, he was selected for the ‘B’ (i know, we need a new name for this) team for the first time.

He hadn’t been training so much due to other committments and if I remember he had had a few injuries. Also, other guys had put their hand up and demanded inclusion. At 39, and having played (still does) soccer and squash at a high level, I wondered would he pack it in. Our exchanges on the day were brief and slightly edgy but we caught up later in the week.

Enda knew he wasn’t where he needed to be but didn’t hide that missing out hurt his pride. He finished by saying he was totally committed to the rest of the year though and would give his all for whoever he was selected for. I knew even before Luxembourg that he would be needed come Championship so his reaction was a welcome boost. I’d trade youth (relative) for Enda’s brains and character any day. Well, maybe not, but that’s what I’ll be telling him.

Originally I was due to miss Munich but now it looks like I’ll be available so my mid-season break isn’t as well timed as originally thought. A bit of tightness in the hammer curtailed my participation tonight but I should be up and running again Thursday. I’ve a bit of catching up to do but I’m in good company with the likes of Jim and Keary!! A few extra sessions might be in store for a few of us.

Five sessions to go and with 21 tonight and plenty more on the way back, things are going to start getting spicy again.