Vienna Win Opens Door

It’s important to remember that in defeat, you’re probably never as bad as it seems and similarly, in victory, you’re probably never quite as good as some may lead you to believe.

The Shield team finished 8 out of 9 on Saturday. It was hard to imagine after a thunderous start against Paris/Lyon when they fired over points for fun. Soon after, holes began to open up and once again, the concession of goals derailed their challenged. A difficult day for the lads but there were positives in the play and the return of some key men in Maastricht should steady the ship.

At the other end of the scale, the Championship panel won the round in whirlwind fashion.

I must have subconsciously parked a few realities in the back of my mind over the last few years. No Pan-Euro win since Maastricht 2008 and no final appearance since Budapest 2010. We didn't put our hands on a Benelux trophy since June 2011. That's a lot of foraging with little reward.

Heading into Saturday we had a lot of injuries; broken fingers, bust thumbs, damaged ankles, bruised ribs, bruised feet (!)... Shaun, our one 'x-factor' type player had to pull out last week but the biggest concern was the amount of training some guys had missed. Gill, Cillain and Ger in particular but also Timmy and one or two others. If you are trying to beat something into lads’ heads, they have to be there to do it!

The unpredictability of the football competitions this year has made for some very interesting days out. In Benelux, the difference between a good day and a bad day more often than not come down to points difference. We missed out on our share of finals due to this.

Saturday was just one of those days everything fell into place. Our plan was painfully simple and relied purely on the honesty of the lads in terms of buying into the jobs they were asked to do and sticking at them to the death. I'd seen a quote a few weeks ago saying how hard it is to beat someone who never gives up. It bounced around my head since and was what we were looking for out of lads at the weekend.

Our first three wins against Lux, Amsterdam and The Hague looked impressive on paper but don't tell the whole story. Lux were in total control in the first half, leading 0-5 to 0-2 at H/T. Timmy was our game changer, grabbing the first ball of the second half and forcing a point chance into a goal. We kicked on from there.

An early penalty against The Hague could have rattled withus but we weren't ruffled and proceeded calmly and efficiently.

By the time we caught Amsterdam their resources were stretched. Still, they ran strongly from deep to create a lot of chances which required a fair amount of last ditch defending. Aided by two penalties, we brought our goal tally to ten in three games and booked our place in the final. The only downside was a dead leg picked up by Brian Hurley in the build up to one of those goals.

The result didn't render the Guernsey game meaningless though. We had an opportunity to knock them out of the competition, which could only help our overall Championship aspirations.

As you would expect of a team of their quality, they raced out of the traps! We found ourselves 10 points down before we blinked. A few mentioned afterwards that there was a moment at that stage when they thought it better to conserve energy for the final and just go through the motions in defeat.

Then Darragh Cotter nailed a goal and before we knew it, we were level, thanks in part to an amount of first half injury time that would have had Alex Ferguson smiling from ear to ear.

However, we inexplicably we handed a six point lead to them in the second half. We worked our way back and got a free with time nearly up to level. Utilising the rolling subs rule, we sprung Cillian to slot it over and I thought a draw had been secured. Not so. Down a point again within seconds. It was left to Player of the Tournament Diarmuid Laffan to nail the equaliser with practically the last kick.

With the way results went, Guernsey would still get to the final thanks to an Amsterdam win against The Hague in the final group game. Bizarelly, Lux, who were in the final in Copenhagen and beat Guernsey on Saturday, ended up rooted to the bottom of the table. That says it all really!

One of the biggest differences on Saturday compared to other tournaments was that we had really gone for it in every game. In the past, we were managing injuries, fitness, game time etc, trying to get the balance right and make the final. We went balls out on Saturday though and wanted to win every game. Ross did very well on the line, reading situations well and being ruthless enough with his substitutions. Some guys went starved of game time for a while but all were brought in at the right times and made important impacts.

Myself, himself and Tim were picking the team and it went very smoothly, with each of us happy to concede ground to the majority where necessary.

Playing Guernsey in the final probably wasn't ideal in most lads' heads. We hadn't really threatened to beat them in the last couple of years but I thought with one or two positional switches, we could correct some of the issues we had faced in the group game. In addition, they were struggling to get their game going on the day whilst we had put some very good passages together.

The game itself felt a bit bizarre. The lights were on and the dew had set in. The pitch was magnificent, saved all day for the Shield and Championship finals.

We'd avoided the nightmare start which categorised our previous battles and settled well. I can't remember what we led by at half-time but it can't have been more than a point or two. Any time we had a lead during the day, Timmy started banging on about winning the second half before we could even hear the score read out. It kept us very focused to keep going forward and not start to sit back on the lead.

My memory of the second half is sketchy. We got a goal, they got a goal. I asked the ref how long was left and he told me six and a half minutes. I felt tense at that point but the lads' tails were up. Critically, our full back line of Crusher and Keary were winning their battles and for every ball they won, it seemed like it ended in a score at the other end. 3-11 to 1-2. It sounds like a stroll but we were under pressure to win every single ball in that game.

The lads did all that was asked of them all day. Some of the jobs that needed doing were fairly grim and would go against one's normal instincts but they carried them out manfully. From a 'mgmt/coaching' perspective, we were very satisfied that we had identified our shortcomings after Copenhagen and got some reward for the work over the last few weeks - remembering of course that you make all the right decisions when you win!!!

Guernseys' captain and their manager came into our dressing room afterwards to congratulate us and spoke very well. It's the done thing at home but I've never seen it in Europe. I thought it showed a touch of class on their behalf and was certainly appreciated by the lads. We weren't left in much doubt about their drive to correct things in time for Maastricht though!!

It leaves us and Guernsey a good bit ahead of the pack in terms of winning the overall Championship at the start of November. In previous year's you could safely predict in such a situation, we would be the teams to contest the final.

However, the noises coming from The Hague, Amsterdam and Lux on Saturday was that they are lining up an assault of their own. It promises to be the most dramatic finale to a Pan-Euro Championship yet. Every team is capable of beating each other. The difference between first and last will be minimal. It’ll all boil down to who remains most focused and who can best navigate their way through the choppy waters.

We've a bit of work to do ourselves. There were some holes in our performances on Saturday, both collectively and individually. Other teams will have seen our hand also. The next month will be about finding some more consistency but also adding one or two more aspects to our game.

On a personal level, it was one of the most satisfying days in a long while. I can't remember the last time I was able to play an entire tournament outfield. The frustration that caused was definitely effecting the enjoyment I was getting out of playing football and hurling. A big thanks to our physio Laura in that regard. She's patched up more than just myself in recent weeks and has been a big help.

Onwards to Maastricht now. It's a close you can get here to preparing for a County Final. It should be a fantastic month of training and one to be enjoyed.