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.