Anthony McG

The title gives you an indication of how the first game of the season went against Priorswood. It was a game we knew would be tough as they beat us quite heavily last year. The lads held out for fifteen minutes before Priorswood went ahead from a header. From there on in it was mainly Priorswood on the attack with the half-time score at 4-1 after a great goal from Damien who did well to turn and shoot in the box from a tight angle. I was slightly frustrated with our defensive display though and losing Paul McGovern to the B side has hit that area of the team. I’m going to be devoting a lot of time to strengthning up the back four plus working on getting the lads to find each other with each pass instead of every third one. All in all it wasnt a bad display against a team which should be in a higher league.

Well the new season is about to get underway with the first training session for the kids lads this Wednesday. The past two training sessions have been cancelled due to the atrocious weather we’ve been having but I hope it stays dry for Wednesday. Have to tackle the issue of the footballs we use with the team. I’m not happy with the ones we were using last year as they were really hard and heavy and it doesnt do anyone any good.

The lads won’t learn proper control and skill through using a ball which feels like a medicine ball from a gym. That needs addressing so I’ll have a word with a few of the other lads from the club when I’m over there and see what we can sort out. I’ve high hopes for the lads this season so hopefully they’ll do alright. I just want to develop them as players and individuals. They’re not going to become the Arsenal of the Dublin Boys League but they can improve their technique and introduce a bit of, how you say, va-va-voom.