Wheres me jumpa

My first game on Hill 16 was about as big as they come, Dublin taking on Kerry. Kerry came into today’s All Ireland Quarter Final clash with Dublin with a point to prove. A few disappointing displays under their belt left many, including myself, believing an in form Dublin team could end their year. Dublin have impressed this year but many questions remained.

Kerry started as they meant to go on. Colm Cooper hit the new with their first attack and from here on it was just free flowing football that tore Dublin apart. Dublin were dazed and they would not recover. 14 points behind at half time, the Dublin team were booed off the field as The Hill and most of the blue half of Croke Park vented their anger. The second half saw some improvement but nothing to worry Kerry.

So for my first game on The Hill, I didnt get the close, high tempo classic game I was expecting but I did get to see great football from one team! There was a funny moment when Joanne Cantwell from RTE tried to interview Ciaran Donaghy in front of The Hill, needless to say, that interviewed was drowned out!

This will be a very short blog post. Liverpool ruined my first trip to Old Trafford in over three years. That is all.

I have been coaching an underage team since August this year. It is good fun but there are numerous costs associated with it, phone calls, text messages, petrol, the occassional short term loans when players forget to bring money with them etc. It may not add up to much but on top of the time you are volunteering it can all add up.

A work team I am playing on has started using Teamer.net. Its an Irish website that is designed to reduce the cost and hassle of organising your team. You sign up, create your team, then send out invites to each of your players. Players can be notified of events via email and via SMS. The cost to send out notifications is free. A player replies to the SMS for the same price as a regular text message so there is no change in the cost for players to reply. They can also reply via email.

When you log in you are presented with a list of your events, players in your squad and players who have confirmed their attendance at your game or training. You can also create a blog for your team.

I am testing it out with an Under 11 team, it will probably prove difficult explaining to parents but once they get the hang of it this will prove a really valuable service. I can not recommend this service enough.

Best of luck to its owners.

Cyprus is team that will always be a sore spot for all Irish football fans. The 5-2 defeat in Cyprus was a damaging result at the time and continues to haunt us. Going into this game we all knew it was going to be tough. Apart from being a bogey team, they have some decent players. They have also caused problems for Italy in this group already.

Darren Gibson was the major talking point going into game. The inexperienced United midfielder getting the nod ahead of Andy Reid and even Liam Miller. A big surprise but there is a certain amount of trust being shown in Trapps decisions so far.

To the game myself and Trilla went, positioning ourselves in the Davin Stand. We were barely in our seats when Robbie Keane opened the scoring. Great start and we expected the team to push on. Unfortunatley that didnt happen. Ireland seemed to fall back on themselves and Cyprus came more and more into it.

But for bursts from McGeady and Duff there was little to be optimistic about. Cyprus had some good chances in the game, Given and Dunne ensured they were not nestling in the net. It was a very nervy end to the game. A second goal would have killed it off but it just never looked like coming. Relief at the final whistle and a chance to dissect what we had seen.

Trapp is definitely insistent on playing with two holding midfielders. Gibson or Whelan never really got forward. I dont beleive this was nerves or lack of confidence, I believe they were under instructions to sit. At times it was bizarre how they didnt make an attempt to get forward with certain attacks.

Kilbane and McShane in the full back positions also failed to get forward. This was understandable from McShanes point of view as he was a stand in right back and perhaps didnt want taking chances. Kilbane however is likely to be our left back for the campaign and he really failed to support Duff or McGeady ahead of him. Again, I believe this was the instructions they were given.

Keane and Doyle worked their socks off up front. One of the best performances I have seen from Robbie Keane for Ireland in recent years. So we had two forwards really up for it, two wingers causing problems but no support from central midfield or full backs. It’s no wonder we didnt kill the game off with this approach.

Having said that, we got the result. We are in an excellent position in the group. A friendly to come and plenty of time to prepare for our next competitive game. As long as the results keep coming I will be happy. But I cant help but feel that a bad result could open the flood gates in terms of criticism. The Andy Reid issue is a topic that has raised some questions but with results going well, the manager looks to be making the right decisions. Bad results and suddenly he is making the wrong decisions.

The match is also being discussed here:

• Waffle
• Trilla

Last night I went to my first ever Eircom League game. It only took me 25 years to do it! Its an embarrassing fact but I plan to make amends for it for the remainder of this season and into next. While I play and watch a lot of football in Carlow, I just never got round to an Eircom League game before.

Tolka Park is just around the corner from me, so I had no excuse for not going to see Shamrock Rovers take on Bray Wanderers. I was accompanied by born again Irish football fan, Trilla. The first half was a drab affair but the second half more than made up for it.

Rovers took a 2-0 lead through two goals from the excellent Padraig Ammond. Then it was Brays turn to bag the goals. Substitute Gareth Coughlan scored a fine individual goal before Alan Cawley scored a cracking free kick late on to steal a point.

A good nights entertainment for the money. Apart from my absenteeism from Eircom League games all my life, the reason I considered last night significant was a recent argument on Waffle.ie. Trilla has been living in Dublin for some time now and has taken to supporting Bohemians. He has been doing his best to get others to follow Irish football. The argument revolved around me thinking he was looking down on those of us who do not attend Eircom League games.

Anyway the point is that it was very easy for me to attend the game last night as I am now based in Dublin. There is an element to some Eircom League supporters that you are not a football fan if you don’t support an Eircom League team. Having been to a game now, I don’t feel anymore knowledgeable about football than I did before hand. The fact of the matter is that for some people it is hard to support an Eircom League team.

This same attitude makes the league very unattractive for those on the outside. I would also point out that for all the fans I see posting on various sites, there was a very poor turn out at the game last night. This attitude is very much a minority, but it is an annoying minority.

Regardless, I plan on attending further games this season and savouring what is left of this season and I reckon I can drag some others along. If I get two people to go, and then they get two each and then…..I’ll think to myself, I should have monetised this pyramid scheme!

I agreed to spend my Saturday travelling from Carlow to Dublin on a bus full of under 11 soccer players. Six of these players had been selected to be mascots on the day, which meant they would meet both teams and walk out with one of the teams.

The bus journey was surprisingly painless. Arrived in Dublin around 4pm and made a beeline for Fagans of Drumcondra. It was then the heavens opened up. For about two hours, there was torrential rain which caused the Tolka river to burst its banks.

Eventualy the news we were dreading came, the match was called off. The Tolka Park pitch was flooded also. Then came the tears. We got our bus back as quickly as possible. Jumped on at 7pm, expecting to be home pretty quickly. Little did we know that the drains around Dublin were giving in to the rain. It took us nearly three hours to get from Drumcondra to the M50. The M50 itself was also badly flooded, the roadworks here assisted the flooding.

Got home late last night, never drinking Guiness before a bus journey again:(

Read about the cleanup of the floods here.

Images can be found here.

Before we got on our bus, a/the marketing manager from Sunderland was also in the bar. He broke the news about the match being cancelled. However he also tried to arrange a meeting for the young’uns with the Sunderland team. This was a long shot which didnt happen but he suggested we contact him regarding a trip to Sunderland to watch a live game, play a game against their academy team and tour the ground.

It was a very nice touch and ties in with the way Sunderland go about their business. They really know how to make fans appreciated, ref: several moments involving Niall Quinn and his generosity.

I have set up a Euro 2008 Fantasy Football league for Waffle.ie. The league will be tracked and contestants belittled in this thread.

Anyone interested, drop me a mail or PM and Ill provide the code. Huntelaar is my tip for the must have player.

Picked up a nice gash to my knee on Sunday 18th. Playing a cup game and the result of a tackle is in the pictures below. Six stitches right on my kneecap. Im told it will take some time to heal as its on the knee so it will constantly be stretched.

To make matters worse we lost the game 3-1

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