St Brigid’s II V Killybegs
It may be a long way to Tipperary, but it’s a long enough journey to Killybegs on a snowy day in February. Our Chairman showed up at HQ talking a good fight, but with his long johns still on he was sent back to the warmth of his Sunday morning slumber.
24 intrepid travellers took off in convoy towards the snowy mists of Tyrone and the cold drumlins of Kesh and Donegal Town, picking up three in number at a variety of sheughs on the way. The first mistake was in picking young Conway up in the McDonald’s Drive thru in Omagh. Before management could lay down the strict regime McCann had ordered double Kid’s Meal with McFlurry and led a majority of the panel similarly astray. So much for the nutritional information purveyed with heart and gusto since the start of Phase 1 training.
Time passed very quickly as panel members got to know their travelling companions and assessed where they were aiming to take their season. The party, minus the five players who have started shaving, arrived in the picturesque Killybegs with the sun shimmering across the beachside pitch and onto the beautiful strand.
A half hour warm-up, involving sharp pick ups and sprints towards the Atlantic, could not have been more life enhancing, with those that had partaken of McD’s surprisingly to the fore. Emo’s car finally arrived and as they clambered down to the beach we finished off with a few 5-a-side possessions to get the panel fired up for the match.
The next 60 minutes was a little bit of a blurr. What I have picked up was: Emo had plenty of kick-out practice Collie Connolly (aka Cunningham) was a dutiful captain the Kellys and Gerry chased manfully after the Donegal U21 panel Big Paddy started playing big and helping the hard-working Ciaran Barney had a go at the ref for being more involved in the match than him Conor ,Ben ,2x Ryan kept beggin’ for some ball right up to the final whistle Luke questioned management’s player knowledge by playing him in defence Gary, Benny, Michael and Peter linked well for a good move towards the end and Andy Sweeny was captain’s pick for man of the match. Meanwhile the very articulate football of Killybegs remained constant right through with excellent build up from half back and good communicated support to the scoring zone. The steady shooting kept the scoreboard minder’s hands warm throughout.
As the captain disappeared over the dune towards his salty bath, the remainder of the panel shook hands with the very welcoming people of Killybegs. Their hospitality and offer of soup and sandwiches was most welcome.
It was in many ways a little too far for our team, this trip to Killybegs. But as somebody said as we left the sun setting on the beautiful west, perhaps it was just far enough to tell them what they need to focus on in the next three weeks before Phase 2 starts. Maybe if we can use the energy shown in Donegal and develop the team bond needed to follow the captain into the waves, the journey might not have been too long at all, at all.
