The closing paragraph of my last entry said that we were capable of ending the season on a high. It needed Martin to get the blend right and the players to perform. Both happened and we claimed a third win in a row in our home tournament.
It was a day that didn’t belong to summer. It was damp, with sporadic rain showers and soft underfoot conditions. Den Hague and Zurich opened proceedings with a physically contested draw. I watched from a distance and was impressed with the strength of the panels they brought and the purpose with which they approached each exchange.
We started off against Lux. They’re struggling at the moment but to their credit, they put a panel together and made the journey. We all know how difficult it is when you are blending only a few experienced hurlers into a largely inexperienced group. We won the game well with the highlight coming from Michael Hough who showed agility you would not associate him with to swivel and connect first time to raise a green flag.
Next up was The Hague; a team playing for the Championship. We were relaxed before the game, far too relaxed for Martin’s liking and he gave us a fairly animated dressing down. They hit us early with a few frees but we tipped away with scores from Hough and Shane. Still, we trailed by a point at the interval.
We struck back immediately after the break with a goal. It’s difficult to know who did what when you are in goal at the other end and lads have helmets on. I think it was a ground strike by Crusher. Things heated up as the stakes rose for our opponents. Colm MacEoin came into his own then. Having had a couple of exchanges with him in training I know he has bite and the hurling definitely brought it out of him. His fire lit the fuse of those around him and helped by another goal, we won by six or seven points. We showed a relentlessness that had been absent all year, especially around the middle where Bull and Shane were making some big tackles.
Our defence was going well. We were limiting our opponents to points from distance even if a few too many of them were coming from frees. Willie and Keary were keeping things tight in front of me. The only concern point was the communication and this time I was one of the guilty parties. There were a couple of moments of indecision between myself and Willie. A heavy wet ball descending from the sky through traffic can do that to fellas!
Those two wins meant we had qualified for the final. Now, The Hague needed us to beat Zurich in our last group game to qualify for the final and thus keep their hopes of an overall Championship win alive. If it was a run of the mill tournament we’d have emptied the bench and rested lads. We respect what each team puts into the whole thing though and did what we thought was the right thing and went with a strong team.
Zurich’s greater need was giving them an edge on the scoreboard but we kept in touch. Until Keary’s red mist moment. A ball broke and he did a fair job of trying to break his hurley off one of their lads. Kev knew straight away that he had done wrong. Anay wasn’t impressed either and she literally hauled him off the pitch. It made our task all the harder. We went down by a couple of points in the end.
I wasn’t worried about the prospect of facing them again in the final. We made some mistakes in that game, played a lot of the second half with ten men and as much as we wanted to win in our heads, a guy will never put his body on the line in the same way when the goal is already achieved.
Martin had a few decisions to make. The void left by Keary being the first one. He brought in the old warhorse Fergal Mythen. There were problems further up the field though. We got no change out of their full back line so he brought Daire Cott to half forward and put the robust Aonghus in full to fight that battle.
It felt like they were well over us in the first half and I was surprised to be level at 0-5 to 0-5 at half-time. Like against The Hague, we goaled again early in the second half. I think it was Crusher. We were coming strongly and added another goal when Aonghus laid off brilliantly to Daire Cott to fire to the net.
Zurich had already been crowned Euro Champions by virtue of getting to the final but we know from our experience in the football in 2008, how important it is to finish the job. They came again but found player of the tournament Darragh Cotter to be an immovable object in defence.
Behind him Fergal Mythen was winning some crucial ball. He’s some man. We still don’t know his age but rumours were rife on Saturday that he was in Hayes’ Hotel on that faithful day. If he was, he showed all that experience to close the game out. When you’re in goal he’s a great man to have in front of you. The kind of minder that a keeper will always appreciate. I’m sure it was an especially satisfying day for him, with his wife and army of kids watching on from the sideline.
It’s hard to explain to people at home how winning one tournament can be so satisfying. This was especially so as if we ended the season empty handed it would have been a massive blow to hurling in the club. Instead, we beat the two top teams in this year’s championship and proved to ourselves that when we have most of our players, we can compete. And we managed on Saturday without Eoin Sheanon. He has been by far the most prolific forward in the competition for the last few years. The victory was the daylight at the end of the tunnel which we wondered if we would see this year.
I’m glad I copped on last week and realised I had to play. The outing in goal went largely to plan except for the concession of a goal in the final. It was from a free which started on the wing and due to persistent moaning, was brought in front of the posts. It was a very savable shot but we let it slip in. I reckon we’d have been the first team to keep a clean sheet over the course of a tournament day if we had kept it out. Disappointing.
That miserly stat wasn’t down to my brilliance. Our defence did very well and I had no clean shot to deal with, just the usual dirty slippery balls you get. Fortunately the eye was in and the confidence grew as the day progressed. I was happy with the puck outs too and reckon we won a higher % of our own puck outs than any other team. That was partly down to me and partly down to the lads who put their hand up and made the right moves. One other part that could have been sharpened was clearances in open play. I may have had options on shorter on a few occasions but opted to go long. That just comes with that bit of confidence.
Needless to say, we celebrated with excess in Devs that evening. And it wasn’t just our tournament win but also a double from the ladies who not only won the tournament but also the overall championship. Camogie has had the biggest struggle in Europe. Standards were very low in recent years but this year it was turned on its head. On the back of 4 wins, the girls were deserving winners but Paris had a quality team too. The lack of numbers on a long day went against them on more than one occasion though.
Our ladies won well in the final with Catriona putting in another massive performance at the back. The highlight was the combo of forward duo Niamh and Irene. They had an almost telepathic understanding and linked up for some fantastic scores to lead their team home.
Despite many cups being handed out and speeches galore, the highlight of everyone’s night was when Joe McDonagh got up and sang The West’s Awake. It’s not easy to quieten a pub load of hurlers that late in the night but you could hear a penny drop. He’s some man and a great supporter of European G.A.A.
There was more daylight as we vacated the premises in the early hours of the morning. Amazing how one day can change the story of a season and send you to the long winter with renewed hope.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
One Last Crack
I’ve been in prima donna mode for the last couple of weeks. I knew after Budapest that I would miss Zurich so I took the opportunity to sit out training as it’s the hurling that aggravates the back more than anything. I went back a couple of weeks ago but after fifteen minutes of what was a light session, it started to seize up again.
I’ve been able to manage it somewhat from a football point of view this year but the hurling has been a disaster from the very start. I can barely remember a session or a match I have enjoyed as a result. Considering that and the fact that we are out of the running for the Championship, I was pretty sure I’d sit out the final tournament in Leuven this weekend.
There are few things that frustrate me more than a lad humming and hawing about his availability and I’m sure Martin felt some degree of frustration towards me in that regard. If I had stayed away from training my decision would have been easy. Instead, I wandered down Tuesday night and with numbers at their highest all year, you could sense a greater level of enthusiasm.
We trained out in Leuven again last night and I’d pretty much decided I’d play when I was heading out there. I discussed with Martin afterwards and it’s likely I’ll play in goal. That suits me fine. I used to protest about playing in there when I was at home because it’s a difficult place to escape once you get put in there. Secretly, I always got a buzz out of it though.
I insinuated above that being out of the Championship was one reason why I could justify sitting out but that suggests we are just making up the numbers on Saturday. That’s not true though. We have our strongest panel of the year and have a real chance of proving that we are as good as Zurich and Den Hague. We’ve struggled to get guys to travel this year and there is no denying those two teams have had the edge on us. We’ve never been too far away though.
The Championship will be decided between them but how we perform can have a big say in it. For the first time all year, Martin has some proper selection headaches all over the pitch. If he manages to get the blend right and if we all perform in our positions then what has been a disappointing season so far may very well end up finishing on a high.
I’ve been able to manage it somewhat from a football point of view this year but the hurling has been a disaster from the very start. I can barely remember a session or a match I have enjoyed as a result. Considering that and the fact that we are out of the running for the Championship, I was pretty sure I’d sit out the final tournament in Leuven this weekend.
There are few things that frustrate me more than a lad humming and hawing about his availability and I’m sure Martin felt some degree of frustration towards me in that regard. If I had stayed away from training my decision would have been easy. Instead, I wandered down Tuesday night and with numbers at their highest all year, you could sense a greater level of enthusiasm.
We trained out in Leuven again last night and I’d pretty much decided I’d play when I was heading out there. I discussed with Martin afterwards and it’s likely I’ll play in goal. That suits me fine. I used to protest about playing in there when I was at home because it’s a difficult place to escape once you get put in there. Secretly, I always got a buzz out of it though.
I insinuated above that being out of the Championship was one reason why I could justify sitting out but that suggests we are just making up the numbers on Saturday. That’s not true though. We have our strongest panel of the year and have a real chance of proving that we are as good as Zurich and Den Hague. We’ve struggled to get guys to travel this year and there is no denying those two teams have had the edge on us. We’ve never been too far away though.
The Championship will be decided between them but how we perform can have a big say in it. For the first time all year, Martin has some proper selection headaches all over the pitch. If he manages to get the blend right and if we all perform in our positions then what has been a disappointing season so far may very well end up finishing on a high.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Race Night Raging Success
The rules that govern the treasurer’s purse this year dictate that each code organise a fundraiser to contribute towards the spiralling costs that come with an expanding club. The lads seemed unmoved by such direction until Collie B got it into his head to run a race night.
In barely over three weeks it went from a good idea to one of the best fundraisers the club has had.
The beauty of a race night is it offers many avenues to generate money; selling horses, races, VIP tables and bets on the night itself. Despite needing a bit of a slap in the build up to the event, the lads stepped up and everything that could be flogged beforehand was, meaning we had over a grand in clear profit heading into the night.
We got great support from former players like Ollie, Carlo, Enda, Emmett and many more. Some of our newest members like Fred also came up trumps big time with support. It was great to see and shows that whilst the lads may have moved on, they haven’t forgotten the good times.
On the night, we had VIP tables from Coca-Cola (Mairtin and Paddy), FC Irlande, The Perm Rep, Toyota, Fred and one or two more. Shane and Olof ran an efficient mobile bookies around those tables, although Giller’s inability to remember names doesn’t bode well for his political ambitions. Fortunately, any difficult questions were taken out of his hands by the excellently prepared race guide which a credit to Sylvia.
Timmy, Johnny, Darragh, Collie B and Ross kept the main bookie stand going and the steady stream of punters insured they were kept busy. It’s quite an operation on the night as the money must be collected, quickly counted and then redistributed (not all of course!) to the winners.
The night was also heavy supported by the politicos of the city with Sean Kelly sponsoring a race and working the floor for the night. Commission Maire Geoghan-Quinn was very generous with her sponsorship as were many other MEPs (I’ll leave Collie B thank them officially!).
The highlight of the night was the final race; The Belgian Champion Hurdle. This featured a piggy back race, with five of the lads and five of the girls paired off. The race was filmed beforehand, amid great secrecy and the couples were sold off for €20 a pair.
Ross worked the crowd and somewhere along the way, Fergal (with Christine on his back), became the fan favourite with heavy betting on him. The build up to the race itself was magnificent with the crowd being able to observe the couples in the paddock prior to the race. In the end, it was Conor Mul who upset the form guide and stormed to victory.
With the final race run, Colin took the purse and disappeared into the night. He was last seen on the South coast of Spain but we hope when he returns that he will confirm our estimated earnings of €2500.
The great support, especially from outside our membership, was very much appreciated and will be even more when we get some decent balls at training again!! Special mention my brother John and his wife Zoe who sponsored a race and also the Kinsale lads who bought all the horses in it. David Shortall now has €100 worth of riding lessons for himself!
In barely over three weeks it went from a good idea to one of the best fundraisers the club has had.
The beauty of a race night is it offers many avenues to generate money; selling horses, races, VIP tables and bets on the night itself. Despite needing a bit of a slap in the build up to the event, the lads stepped up and everything that could be flogged beforehand was, meaning we had over a grand in clear profit heading into the night.
We got great support from former players like Ollie, Carlo, Enda, Emmett and many more. Some of our newest members like Fred also came up trumps big time with support. It was great to see and shows that whilst the lads may have moved on, they haven’t forgotten the good times.
On the night, we had VIP tables from Coca-Cola (Mairtin and Paddy), FC Irlande, The Perm Rep, Toyota, Fred and one or two more. Shane and Olof ran an efficient mobile bookies around those tables, although Giller’s inability to remember names doesn’t bode well for his political ambitions. Fortunately, any difficult questions were taken out of his hands by the excellently prepared race guide which a credit to Sylvia.
Timmy, Johnny, Darragh, Collie B and Ross kept the main bookie stand going and the steady stream of punters insured they were kept busy. It’s quite an operation on the night as the money must be collected, quickly counted and then redistributed (not all of course!) to the winners.
The night was also heavy supported by the politicos of the city with Sean Kelly sponsoring a race and working the floor for the night. Commission Maire Geoghan-Quinn was very generous with her sponsorship as were many other MEPs (I’ll leave Collie B thank them officially!).
The highlight of the night was the final race; The Belgian Champion Hurdle. This featured a piggy back race, with five of the lads and five of the girls paired off. The race was filmed beforehand, amid great secrecy and the couples were sold off for €20 a pair.
Ross worked the crowd and somewhere along the way, Fergal (with Christine on his back), became the fan favourite with heavy betting on him. The build up to the race itself was magnificent with the crowd being able to observe the couples in the paddock prior to the race. In the end, it was Conor Mul who upset the form guide and stormed to victory.
With the final race run, Colin took the purse and disappeared into the night. He was last seen on the South coast of Spain but we hope when he returns that he will confirm our estimated earnings of €2500.
The great support, especially from outside our membership, was very much appreciated and will be even more when we get some decent balls at training again!! Special mention my brother John and his wife Zoe who sponsored a race and also the Kinsale lads who bought all the horses in it. David Shortall now has €100 worth of riding lessons for himself!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Crash and Burn
Be warned; 2094 words - a personal best.
Disappointed and despondent. That is how I feel after Saturday’s tournament in The Hague. I totally recognise that they are extreme emotions considering it was a tournament which in the grand scheme of things, was far from make or break.
However, I’ve been knocking around long enough to understand that you need to take every opportunity you have to win and we blew it big time on Saturday. That is where the disappointment came from.
The despondency is more linked to a combination of what caused the failure and what lies ahead. Our management team of Conan and Eoin will split in less than a month’s time. Conan is coming into a very busy period for his expanding business. Amid that uncertainty, it seems inevitable that my responsibilities as captain will have to expand beyond the limits which I want. Myself and Conan will sit down in the next couple of weeks to thrash out exactly what that means but hopefully it will not bring more training responsibility.
My reaction to our 3-09 to 1-06 win against Amsterdam A in the first game hinted that my subconscious has already immersed itself into some form of management mode. It’s rare that we put away teams and this was an Amsterdam team which we struggled to finish off in Frankfurt a month ago, when on paper at least, we were stronger than on Saturday.
I was furious coming off the pitch with some of the things we had done and was totally unconcerned with the margin of victory. We’d coughed up possession regularly, failed to track men, kicked ball away and given up an awful goal. On the flipside, the outlet Timmy and Paddy gave us in the forwards was reaping reward and Olof was holding his own in the competitive area of midfield but I felt defensively we were very disjointed and only wayward shooting spared us on occasion.
Eoin and Conan tried to reason with me by pointing out the margin of the victory and that we had suffered injuries, late arrivals etc but as funny/ridiculous as it sounds, I was nearly inconsolable!
Next up was Luxembourg. They pretty much picked two even teams and put one in each group. The side we faced looked to have the more dangerous midfield and forwards. We led by two points at the break but couldn’t shake them off. They missed a free to level with the last kick of the game which meant we won the group. It was an improved showing.
That meant we played their other team in the semi. This side looked to be stronger defensively. We were extremely slow to start and conceded a goal early on. I’d carried the ball up field and as I approached their goal I tried to layoff to Mike. My pass was too low and he had to reach for it in traffic. The ball broke free and Lux went up field to goal. It was sloppy on my behalf.
Timmy cut the four point half time deficit with a great goal but again we coughed up another shocker. Their young and diminutive corner forward managed to fist a high ball to the net. We couldn’t claw it back. I committed two school boy errors by dropping two shots just under the crossbar into the keeper’s hands and Mike Lucey missed two very scorable frees in the closing minutes. We could have goaled too when Olof and Mike had a two on one but Gill’s pass found the defender and not Mike. We lost by a point.
I’m sure many will feel my description of how I feel/felt to be totally over the top. I can’t help that though. There’s only one reason I’ve ever played sport and that is to win, no matter if it’s some sort of game at training, a challenge game or a championship game. My primary purpose for playing sport is not to have social interaction or to make friends. It’s the enjoyment you get from working hard and winning. And I certainly wouldn’t link the feeling to being a bad loser. Lux fully deserved their victory and I certainly wouldn’t contest that.
The most difficult thing about playing sport is that not everyone is really focused on winning. Some know they aren’t, others think they are but actually are not. In the case of successful teams, they just happen to have more people with that priority on winning and with the willingness to do what it takes. It’s not necessarily linked to talent either. I’ve gotten on teams ahead of guys with more talent over the years and that was purely down to wanting it more.
Anyway, to get away from the philosophical and back to the specific. Win or lose I had intended to have a quiet night in on Saturday and that’s how it went. On Sunday morning I headed for an outlet mall just over an hour away. I was still pissed off. When I got back I headed for the gym with Crusher. He hadn’t played but didn’t mention anything about it until I brought it up. One of the first questions I asked him was who he had been talking to about it. He’d clearly been warned to avoid the topic for his own good!!
It’s easy to rant but you must put some sense on it or you can’t communicate the key points. After Saturday I came up with the following;
<1> Fitness – You often hear people say that a team isn’t fit enough. That infers the training isn’t getting them fit. In our situation that is not the case. Conan’s programme got anyone who attended training enough plenty fit. I offer Darragh Cotter as an example of a guy who is going from strength to strength and I have no doubt that it is because he has attended nearly every session and is getting the benefit.
However, some of the rest of us have not. I haven’t enough training under my belt and I knew it in the semi when my tank was totally empty. Timmy (he’s missed training due to neck injury) looked completely bollicksed in the semi and the surging runs from earlier in the day were nowhere to be seen. Colm MacEoin has picked up injuries in each tournament. He hasn’t trained enough. There are more in the same boat. The bottom line is that individuals are not fit enough and each person needs to address that and fix the reason they are not in the right condition.
<2> Ball carrying – On an 11-a-side game on tight pitches, there are very few people who should carry the ball and those who do should be further up the pitch and be the ones with the pace to get away from the man. Everywhere else on the field and anyone not blessed with that pace should look to move the ball as fast as possible.
My biggest issue against Amsterdam was that we were being blocked down or having the ball flicked away when we went to hand pass. In addition to that we lost possession by carrying it into contact numerous times. Worse again, we often tried to carry the ball past the man right along the sideline. That’s a dream for your opponent because he can easily push you over the line or force you to let fly aimlessly.
<3> Work rate – It’s a two way thing. You must work going forward and you must work going backwards. Invariably, people find it easier to work when you have possession and are moving forward. As a back, it’s the thing that makes your blood boil most; watching guys streaming through. There were countless examples at the weekend where our opponents broke up field and their marker either stood static or gave up the run after a while.
In the semi, the exact same situation occurred in the space of a couple of minutes. My man won the ball. I ushered him towards the sideline. He dilly dallied as he tried to find a gap to get past me. He must have had possession for 5/6 seconds. That means that even if support players had broken free of our lads, he was holding the ball sufficiently long enough to allow them track back. On both occasions, when he went to turn and give the ball back, he had at least two unmarked options.
Work rate must be relentless and unconditional. It doesn’t matter if it is your man or not, your error that led to the situation or not. As a minimum, the opponents in the most dangerous position must be picked up.
<4> Support play (linked to previous point)
At times, we really enjoy admiring our passes instead of moving on again to give an option. Hudson is especially good at this. He clenches his fists, places them on his hips, puffs the chest out and stands with a look of admiration on his face. Even if there is traffic blocking his view, he won’t move off the spot. Instead, he kind of reaches with his neck to adjust his view.
Anyway, give and go. Aside from helping the receiver, it also makes you a nightmare to mark as you are always moving. When we deliver a pass we tend to go very static.
Beyond that, our movement off the ball has plenty of scope for improvement too. To give an example; three of us were stuck up in the left corner with the ball on Saturday. Eventually Paddy found a gap and burst along the end line but the other two players stood still instead of shadowing his run into the box. Paddy drew the men but had couldn’t expose the space they left because no-one had moved into it. We must stay switched on and moving all the time.
<5> Communication – This covers a load of areas. I’ve been banging on about this for ages. On Saturday it improved as the day went on. Shane Ryan was in goal and if there is anything that man does well, its talk. I didn’t hear him in the first game though. Some of that may just have been a confidence issue as he is new to goalkeeping. As the day went on, he grew into the role more and more.
Ross is becoming much more vocal but others need to be heard more. Paddy is one guy I’d like to hear a lot more from on the pitch. I reckon he has a lot to offer.
In general though it’s not something we do well. Twice in a row our players collided because they didn’t call for high balls. Three times in a row, the opposition took successful short kick-outs. It always comes back to rugby for me when you want an example of good communication. Those fellas never shut up.
<6> Adapting – They say if you do the same things you will get the same results. We’ve been slow to be able to adapt to different situations in games. In Frankfurt, there was very little on for the direct ball in the final against Amsterdam. I had been intercepted a couple of times and instead of reverting to a shorter game, I persisted a couple of more times. There was a couple more at it too and we didn’t show an ability to quickly adjust.
On Saturday the pitch was tight. Shane’s kick-outs were clearing the half forward line frequently. Our inside forwards continued to hug the end line and were too far from the landing zone to take advantage. It happened time and again and we didn’t read it.
I realise that all sounds very doom and gloom but I do recognise that we only lost one game by one point despite being short many regulars. Furthermore, we were the only team to win two tournaments in the regional section. However, I also know that the Championship will be a big step up. Last year we cruised through Benelux and maybe that covered over some cracks. If we are to be serious challengers we need to address all of the above.
Very little of what I mentioned is linked to skill. The majority of the things i.e. fitness, work rate, communication and decision making (when to carry ball) are linked to attitude and commitment. Our club and our training are geared towards nourishing these things.
Whether we learn is, as always, down to the individual. We have two weeks off and then a six week run-in to the first Pan-E round. Time will tell.
Disappointed and despondent. That is how I feel after Saturday’s tournament in The Hague. I totally recognise that they are extreme emotions considering it was a tournament which in the grand scheme of things, was far from make or break.
However, I’ve been knocking around long enough to understand that you need to take every opportunity you have to win and we blew it big time on Saturday. That is where the disappointment came from.
The despondency is more linked to a combination of what caused the failure and what lies ahead. Our management team of Conan and Eoin will split in less than a month’s time. Conan is coming into a very busy period for his expanding business. Amid that uncertainty, it seems inevitable that my responsibilities as captain will have to expand beyond the limits which I want. Myself and Conan will sit down in the next couple of weeks to thrash out exactly what that means but hopefully it will not bring more training responsibility.
My reaction to our 3-09 to 1-06 win against Amsterdam A in the first game hinted that my subconscious has already immersed itself into some form of management mode. It’s rare that we put away teams and this was an Amsterdam team which we struggled to finish off in Frankfurt a month ago, when on paper at least, we were stronger than on Saturday.
I was furious coming off the pitch with some of the things we had done and was totally unconcerned with the margin of victory. We’d coughed up possession regularly, failed to track men, kicked ball away and given up an awful goal. On the flipside, the outlet Timmy and Paddy gave us in the forwards was reaping reward and Olof was holding his own in the competitive area of midfield but I felt defensively we were very disjointed and only wayward shooting spared us on occasion.
Eoin and Conan tried to reason with me by pointing out the margin of the victory and that we had suffered injuries, late arrivals etc but as funny/ridiculous as it sounds, I was nearly inconsolable!
Next up was Luxembourg. They pretty much picked two even teams and put one in each group. The side we faced looked to have the more dangerous midfield and forwards. We led by two points at the break but couldn’t shake them off. They missed a free to level with the last kick of the game which meant we won the group. It was an improved showing.
That meant we played their other team in the semi. This side looked to be stronger defensively. We were extremely slow to start and conceded a goal early on. I’d carried the ball up field and as I approached their goal I tried to layoff to Mike. My pass was too low and he had to reach for it in traffic. The ball broke free and Lux went up field to goal. It was sloppy on my behalf.
Timmy cut the four point half time deficit with a great goal but again we coughed up another shocker. Their young and diminutive corner forward managed to fist a high ball to the net. We couldn’t claw it back. I committed two school boy errors by dropping two shots just under the crossbar into the keeper’s hands and Mike Lucey missed two very scorable frees in the closing minutes. We could have goaled too when Olof and Mike had a two on one but Gill’s pass found the defender and not Mike. We lost by a point.
I’m sure many will feel my description of how I feel/felt to be totally over the top. I can’t help that though. There’s only one reason I’ve ever played sport and that is to win, no matter if it’s some sort of game at training, a challenge game or a championship game. My primary purpose for playing sport is not to have social interaction or to make friends. It’s the enjoyment you get from working hard and winning. And I certainly wouldn’t link the feeling to being a bad loser. Lux fully deserved their victory and I certainly wouldn’t contest that.
The most difficult thing about playing sport is that not everyone is really focused on winning. Some know they aren’t, others think they are but actually are not. In the case of successful teams, they just happen to have more people with that priority on winning and with the willingness to do what it takes. It’s not necessarily linked to talent either. I’ve gotten on teams ahead of guys with more talent over the years and that was purely down to wanting it more.
Anyway, to get away from the philosophical and back to the specific. Win or lose I had intended to have a quiet night in on Saturday and that’s how it went. On Sunday morning I headed for an outlet mall just over an hour away. I was still pissed off. When I got back I headed for the gym with Crusher. He hadn’t played but didn’t mention anything about it until I brought it up. One of the first questions I asked him was who he had been talking to about it. He’d clearly been warned to avoid the topic for his own good!!
It’s easy to rant but you must put some sense on it or you can’t communicate the key points. After Saturday I came up with the following;
<1> Fitness – You often hear people say that a team isn’t fit enough. That infers the training isn’t getting them fit. In our situation that is not the case. Conan’s programme got anyone who attended training enough plenty fit. I offer Darragh Cotter as an example of a guy who is going from strength to strength and I have no doubt that it is because he has attended nearly every session and is getting the benefit.
However, some of the rest of us have not. I haven’t enough training under my belt and I knew it in the semi when my tank was totally empty. Timmy (he’s missed training due to neck injury) looked completely bollicksed in the semi and the surging runs from earlier in the day were nowhere to be seen. Colm MacEoin has picked up injuries in each tournament. He hasn’t trained enough. There are more in the same boat. The bottom line is that individuals are not fit enough and each person needs to address that and fix the reason they are not in the right condition.
<2> Ball carrying – On an 11-a-side game on tight pitches, there are very few people who should carry the ball and those who do should be further up the pitch and be the ones with the pace to get away from the man. Everywhere else on the field and anyone not blessed with that pace should look to move the ball as fast as possible.
My biggest issue against Amsterdam was that we were being blocked down or having the ball flicked away when we went to hand pass. In addition to that we lost possession by carrying it into contact numerous times. Worse again, we often tried to carry the ball past the man right along the sideline. That’s a dream for your opponent because he can easily push you over the line or force you to let fly aimlessly.
<3> Work rate – It’s a two way thing. You must work going forward and you must work going backwards. Invariably, people find it easier to work when you have possession and are moving forward. As a back, it’s the thing that makes your blood boil most; watching guys streaming through. There were countless examples at the weekend where our opponents broke up field and their marker either stood static or gave up the run after a while.
In the semi, the exact same situation occurred in the space of a couple of minutes. My man won the ball. I ushered him towards the sideline. He dilly dallied as he tried to find a gap to get past me. He must have had possession for 5/6 seconds. That means that even if support players had broken free of our lads, he was holding the ball sufficiently long enough to allow them track back. On both occasions, when he went to turn and give the ball back, he had at least two unmarked options.
Work rate must be relentless and unconditional. It doesn’t matter if it is your man or not, your error that led to the situation or not. As a minimum, the opponents in the most dangerous position must be picked up.
<4> Support play (linked to previous point)
At times, we really enjoy admiring our passes instead of moving on again to give an option. Hudson is especially good at this. He clenches his fists, places them on his hips, puffs the chest out and stands with a look of admiration on his face. Even if there is traffic blocking his view, he won’t move off the spot. Instead, he kind of reaches with his neck to adjust his view.
Anyway, give and go. Aside from helping the receiver, it also makes you a nightmare to mark as you are always moving. When we deliver a pass we tend to go very static.
Beyond that, our movement off the ball has plenty of scope for improvement too. To give an example; three of us were stuck up in the left corner with the ball on Saturday. Eventually Paddy found a gap and burst along the end line but the other two players stood still instead of shadowing his run into the box. Paddy drew the men but had couldn’t expose the space they left because no-one had moved into it. We must stay switched on and moving all the time.
<5> Communication – This covers a load of areas. I’ve been banging on about this for ages. On Saturday it improved as the day went on. Shane Ryan was in goal and if there is anything that man does well, its talk. I didn’t hear him in the first game though. Some of that may just have been a confidence issue as he is new to goalkeeping. As the day went on, he grew into the role more and more.
Ross is becoming much more vocal but others need to be heard more. Paddy is one guy I’d like to hear a lot more from on the pitch. I reckon he has a lot to offer.
In general though it’s not something we do well. Twice in a row our players collided because they didn’t call for high balls. Three times in a row, the opposition took successful short kick-outs. It always comes back to rugby for me when you want an example of good communication. Those fellas never shut up.
<6> Adapting – They say if you do the same things you will get the same results. We’ve been slow to be able to adapt to different situations in games. In Frankfurt, there was very little on for the direct ball in the final against Amsterdam. I had been intercepted a couple of times and instead of reverting to a shorter game, I persisted a couple of more times. There was a couple more at it too and we didn’t show an ability to quickly adjust.
On Saturday the pitch was tight. Shane’s kick-outs were clearing the half forward line frequently. Our inside forwards continued to hug the end line and were too far from the landing zone to take advantage. It happened time and again and we didn’t read it.
I realise that all sounds very doom and gloom but I do recognise that we only lost one game by one point despite being short many regulars. Furthermore, we were the only team to win two tournaments in the regional section. However, I also know that the Championship will be a big step up. Last year we cruised through Benelux and maybe that covered over some cracks. If we are to be serious challengers we need to address all of the above.
Very little of what I mentioned is linked to skill. The majority of the things i.e. fitness, work rate, communication and decision making (when to carry ball) are linked to attitude and commitment. Our club and our training are geared towards nourishing these things.
Whether we learn is, as always, down to the individual. We have two weeks off and then a six week run-in to the first Pan-E round. Time will tell.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Opportunity knocks to push forward?!
Until last Sunday, there was a perception that the Cork bench extended the length of the pitch, oozing quality all the way from flag to flag. Down goes Ciaran Sheehan and we began to scratch our head. With O’Neill already on the injured list we wondered who the scoring forward being brought in would be. Fintan Gould was the answer! Fiachra Lynch followed shortly after! Then there was midfield. With Walsh off colour, we again looked to the bench. No Kavanagh. No Murphy. Few options left.
For the first time since Copenhagen in 2009, our panel looks threadbare. That was the last time we struggled to field a second team and it was someway understandable considering the pricey location.
On Saturday we head to The Hague for the final Benelux round and less than 36 hours from throw in, there is still some doubt as to whether we will have the numbers for two teams. We’ve just not been able to cope with all the lads leaving and also the fact that we are carrying some injuries and holiday absentees.
Another practical problem is transport! Only myself and Keary have cars now so we’ve had to beg people for ones. I heard Al Rowan and Emmett have offered theirs so that will help. Hopefully all the pieces will fall into place in the end.
That won’t solve Eoin and Conan’s selection problem though as they have a group top heavy on backs. I was putting forward a strong case for a role up front tonight, reminding Eoin of our early days playing together when I guided him through games from wing forward when he was still learning his way!!
He sees himself as a maverick type manager, favouring the unpredictable and boasting of his ability to polish rough diamonds so such a decision would fit perfectly. Indications tonight weren’t leaning towards me getting my hands on the number ten jersey though as I was the only player who didn’t get a run in the forwards at training!! He must have been worried that I would give a display that would make the decision for him!!
There are seven teams in action at the weekend; The Hague and two teams each from Luxembourg, Amsterdam and Belgium. Both our teams are grouped with Lux B and Amsterdam B, with the rest on the other side of the draw. I expect Lux and Amsterdam to do some switching of their teams, thinking they could get an easier ride so we could end up with their A teams in our group, playing as the ‘B’s’!!
Neither of our teams will be as strong as we would like on Saturday but that gives us a challenge we need. Our B’s have always been up against it as they are normally playing A teams, even in The Shield. However, their grit is never in question and they have grinded out their share of upsets over the last few years.
The A’s on the other hand, have rarely caused a big upset or won a tournament when we were not the best team on the day. We need to develop that habit. We need to develop that gritty approach where we dig in, fight, spoil and scrap for wins we don’t deserve against teams that may be better than us on paper. Until we develop that bit of character, we can’t expect to win the Championship again. Saturday is set-up perfectly in that sense.
For the first time since Copenhagen in 2009, our panel looks threadbare. That was the last time we struggled to field a second team and it was someway understandable considering the pricey location.
On Saturday we head to The Hague for the final Benelux round and less than 36 hours from throw in, there is still some doubt as to whether we will have the numbers for two teams. We’ve just not been able to cope with all the lads leaving and also the fact that we are carrying some injuries and holiday absentees.
Another practical problem is transport! Only myself and Keary have cars now so we’ve had to beg people for ones. I heard Al Rowan and Emmett have offered theirs so that will help. Hopefully all the pieces will fall into place in the end.
That won’t solve Eoin and Conan’s selection problem though as they have a group top heavy on backs. I was putting forward a strong case for a role up front tonight, reminding Eoin of our early days playing together when I guided him through games from wing forward when he was still learning his way!!
He sees himself as a maverick type manager, favouring the unpredictable and boasting of his ability to polish rough diamonds so such a decision would fit perfectly. Indications tonight weren’t leaning towards me getting my hands on the number ten jersey though as I was the only player who didn’t get a run in the forwards at training!! He must have been worried that I would give a display that would make the decision for him!!
There are seven teams in action at the weekend; The Hague and two teams each from Luxembourg, Amsterdam and Belgium. Both our teams are grouped with Lux B and Amsterdam B, with the rest on the other side of the draw. I expect Lux and Amsterdam to do some switching of their teams, thinking they could get an easier ride so we could end up with their A teams in our group, playing as the ‘B’s’!!
Neither of our teams will be as strong as we would like on Saturday but that gives us a challenge we need. Our B’s have always been up against it as they are normally playing A teams, even in The Shield. However, their grit is never in question and they have grinded out their share of upsets over the last few years.
The A’s on the other hand, have rarely caused a big upset or won a tournament when we were not the best team on the day. We need to develop that habit. We need to develop that gritty approach where we dig in, fight, spoil and scrap for wins we don’t deserve against teams that may be better than us on paper. Until we develop that bit of character, we can’t expect to win the Championship again. Saturday is set-up perfectly in that sense.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Chicks with sticks triumphant
First mention goes to the Camogiers of Belgium this week as they retained the European Camogie Championship in Zurich last weekend, with one tournament still to go. It is surely a more satisfying win this year as the standard of Camogie in Europe has increased significantly.
Our ladies have been bolstered with the arrival of Tipp duo Elaine (player ot the tournament in Zurich) and Catherina as well as super Dub Irene. However, victory this year has largely been achieved without last year's captain Sylvia and also Ciara, who is one of the dandiest camogie players floating around!
The victory made it 3/3 and with the final tournament on home soil they will be looking for a clean sweep.
It was a case of same again for the lads; another day of being so close, yet so far. We were slow out of the blocks against Zurich by all accounts and could have no complaints about the result. The Hague took up where Zurich left off and raced into an early lead on our second game. However as the minutes wound down, their lead was being eaten up.
The Belgian rush came too late though and the one point loss cost us a place in the final. Defeating Zurich B was the only victory of another disappointing day. From what I heard, Darragh Cotter performed well after a ropey start, Crusher and Aonghus did well, Ciaran in his new defensive position showed promise whilst Shane said he was excellent in the middle of the field!!
Zurich threw the Championship back open with an apparently convincing final victory. It means it is all to play for in the final tournament in Belgium at the end of the month. If our lads train then it is well within our capability to throw a spanner in the works. Of course, there is little to suggest that we will do that but you'd never know. Potentially, myself, Crusher (fully fit), Colm, Pearce, Hough and Darragh Cott could come back into the fray and that would strengthen our hand. Whether we have one last push in us will only be revealed in the coming weeks.
Our ladies have been bolstered with the arrival of Tipp duo Elaine (player ot the tournament in Zurich) and Catherina as well as super Dub Irene. However, victory this year has largely been achieved without last year's captain Sylvia and also Ciara, who is one of the dandiest camogie players floating around!
The victory made it 3/3 and with the final tournament on home soil they will be looking for a clean sweep.
It was a case of same again for the lads; another day of being so close, yet so far. We were slow out of the blocks against Zurich by all accounts and could have no complaints about the result. The Hague took up where Zurich left off and raced into an early lead on our second game. However as the minutes wound down, their lead was being eaten up.
The Belgian rush came too late though and the one point loss cost us a place in the final. Defeating Zurich B was the only victory of another disappointing day. From what I heard, Darragh Cotter performed well after a ropey start, Crusher and Aonghus did well, Ciaran in his new defensive position showed promise whilst Shane said he was excellent in the middle of the field!!
Zurich threw the Championship back open with an apparently convincing final victory. It means it is all to play for in the final tournament in Belgium at the end of the month. If our lads train then it is well within our capability to throw a spanner in the works. Of course, there is little to suggest that we will do that but you'd never know. Potentially, myself, Crusher (fully fit), Colm, Pearce, Hough and Darragh Cott could come back into the fray and that would strengthen our hand. Whether we have one last push in us will only be revealed in the coming weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)