Barntown Win Shoot-Out

Belgium 3-18 Glynn Barntown 7-15

Things have fallen well for us this preseason with a challenge game against Glynn Barntown and a trip Den Hague for their invitational slotting nicely into our schedule.

First up were the Wexford men of Glynn Barntown in the Liam Kehoe Memorial Cup. Liam was a former member of their club who passed away in recent years. The lads chose their annual tour to honour him and it gave both teams a greater incentive to win.

We picked a panel of 16 and it consisted of a mix of what would be our Championship and Shield team. We resisted the temptation to add any additional players as they became available and also the soccer lads who had their games cancelled on Saturday. After last year, I’m content as long as we have guys who understand how we want to play and buy into it. In that sense, I was comfortable with the 16 for Saturday.

However, I did have some concern about where the scores would come from. No Giller, O’Dowd, Cillian, Laffan etc. We had Timmy in his usual post and opted for Paddy as his foil. I expected to be heavily reliant on them.

As it turned out, our display threw up the unexpected. Our defending was way below par while our attacking play was some of the best I have seen from us in recent times. The lads joked afterwards that we scored more in this one game (3-18) than we did in most Pan-Euro tournaments last year. There was a good spread too with Johnny O, Johnny P, Pierce, Paddy, Timmy, Griff and myself all raising a flag. One or two more may have done likewise but my memory fails me.

At the other end, we conceded 7-15. I reckon six of the seven goals came from blatant errors in our defence. There were a couple of contributing factors; our line across half back was very flat leaving us exposed to ball over the top, communication could always be better, choosing more complicated options over the simple one, general rustiness. In defence of the defence though, the amount of switches we made was very disruptive and I expected some consequence before the game.

Since last year, we use our full ‘rotation’ to keep freshness on the pitch and it has worked well. However, this would focus on midfield and half forward in particular whilst we would tinker a lot less at the back. They say 90% of successful teams win because they have the best defence. You will rarely see those teams tinker much with these players in the course of a game, no matter what sport. Of all areas on the pitch, you need consistency in those positions.

I’m not overly concerned at this point as this was the strongest aspect of our play last year. It was the forward display that leaves me buzzing this morning. As Crusher said of the football on show at training Thursday, ‘it was utter sh1te’. I didn’t have high expectations. It was a different story yesterday though and we showed great composure in attack, waiting for the right shot and moving well off the ball.

It’s surprisingly easy to get into my good books and there are a few lads who have laid down an early marker. Griff continues to strengthen his position as a key man in the team. Pearce is showing a good appetite (he even had the right gear!). Up front, Ger fits our play perfectly; selfless and dogged running and he rarely coughs up possession. Timmy is bossing the forwards now and we need such leadership up front.

Paddy Cassidy was the star of the show yesterday in my book though. We’ve asked him to play many unfamiliar roles but he has never shirked the challenge. He empties it every day, whether at training or in matches. I thought he was magnificent yesterday and capped his display with a healthy return on the scorers list, both from play and dead balls.

My excitement is mainly linked to our efficiency in front of goal but we still have lots to work on. There are plenty of aspects of our defence that needs working on. Our fielding and contesting of breaking ball was poor also. With all that said, after just one proper training (which lads were still struggling to shake off), the attitude and application was spot on.

The mood in the camp is as good as I’ve seen in a while and it will need to be as we face into some tough grind in the coming weeks.

Finally, thanks to Willie Cashin who did an excellent job with the whistle.

Panel: S Ryan, C Mescall, K Keary, D Barrett, D Lynch, P Quinn, P Cushen, P O’Caoimh, S Griffen, J O’Riordan, J Phelan, G McMahon, A Rowan, D Keohane, P Cassidy, T Donovan