Terenure FC 5-0 Park Celtic

90% of the game is half mental” – Yogi Berra

We arrived at Bushy Park with a quiet confidence, knowing that Park Celtic were one of the teams in the league that we should be able to deliver a decent performance against. All the preparations and rituals had been solemnly undertaken (we had gone to 10.30am mass and said a prayer to St. Jude for Hopeless Cases). Today, St. Jude was wearing a green and black jersey …

 Hugh “Gaffer” Palmer was prepared too with his rousing pre-match speech (executive-coaching beckons) and the boys were ready from the off. The line-up was similar to (but not exactly the same as) the previous week, with John in goals, Tom, Sam, Charlie and Louis across the back and Matt R moving to midfield (and sporting a new aero-dynamic haircut). Oisín and Andy completed the midfield, Luke and Dan played on the wings and Matto completed the configuration up-front. Cian McC, Michael, Conor E and Conor D were on the bench for us.

Some early balls over the heads of the Park Celtic defence were probing and within 4 minutes, Matt “Fast & Furious” Pearson had stuck his first in the back of the net. 1-0!

There was a surge of confidence amongst the boys, with high levels of concentration and focus from the re-start. We took possession again and Oisín went on a great run, beating two defenders before slotting it across to Matto for goal number two – 2-0!

 Again, we kept our discipline and also kept possession – another great run of play, with everyone giving 110%, lead to our third goal for a Matto hat-trick before half-time. 3-0! There were some dubious off-side calls from the referee as we continued to surge forward and Matto completed one of those off-side runs, sticking the ball in the back of the net (for practice, you understand). He picked up a yellow card for his trouble!

At half-time, the “Gaffer” figured we should consolidate our lead, so Andy, who had play well in midfield, delivering lots of forward ball, switched in to goal for John, who had been fantastic in goals again,  and Matto came off in order to avoid the risk of a second yellow and the pressure of just 10 men playing some of the second half. Cian McC came on up front and we recommenced.

After about 10 minutes, Oisín “Lionel Messi” McEvoy (I obviously wasn't writing the match report this week) got possession on the wing and decided to see how far he could get through the defence... defender one, defender two, defender three, slipped to the far post past the (very good) goalie ... gooooaaaalll! 4-0!

The Park Celtic heads were down (a position we have found ourselves in all too often in the past) and we were only challenged once with a long-range shot that hit the crossbar. Andy acquitted himself well in  goals, anticipating all of the half-chances that Park Celtic had easily. Conor E and Conor D came on for Luke and Charlie, who both had great games with superb running. Louis had a super solid game in defence but came off injured and Michael came on in his place. Cian McC and Oisín had a surge up the wing, where Cian was doing some great running and centred the ball for Dan – back of the net – 5-0!!

Matt R was amazing in midfield, challenging for every ball and formidable in the air. Sam and Tom both played out of their skins, closing everything down and clearing their lines brilliantly. Up front, Conor D had a great chance that he was just unlucky not to finish and Conor E had another good opportunity that went just awry. But really it did not matter. A huge cheer went up from the gathered hoards of fans as the full-time whistle went – our first (and thoroughly-deserved) victory!!!

Terenure FC 2-2 Dalkey UTD (yes we got a point)

We arrived at Bushy Park full of optimism looking to continue our long unbeaten run in 2014; a run in which no goal was conceded and, well, no games were played!
After the bruising encounters of 2013, we had sought some outside advice from coaching experts in London – and their recommendation was to get one of our biggest and most skilful rugby players and put them in goal – the logic being that they would not be afraid to go for the ball in all circumstances and probably had a fine boot-out as well...
 We persuaded John Chambers to have a go – and a new Petr Czech was born. He played magnificently and I thought at one point he was likely to score from his end, such was the power and length of his kick-outs. The kick-outs actually took a lot of pressure off us as Dalkey were constantly under pressure from the get-go.
 

As captain, I would like to take the time to thank our peers and parents who are hugely committed fans and there presence on the sidelines, every week, is hugely appreciated.

But I have launched in to the middle of the report prematurely...
 The match build-up was long and the boys were up for a game having spent so long waiting since out last outing (December 8^th!!). As we gathered for a huddle, Hugh “Gaffer” Palmer got everyone focused with a passionate and rousing team talk. The boys responded and we were attacking Dalkey from the off – they were under pressure and they felt it!
 We had some great breaks forward with Andy and Oisín providing through balls and overhead balls to Matto “Fast & Furious” Pearson. He outpaced the Dalkey defence on several occasions and was very unlucky not to score from close range.

We toiled constantly and the defensive line of Tom, Matt R., Charlie and Sam was very solid. The new line-up in midfield of Andy, Oisín and Jackson worked very well, with truly great running from everyone. Luke and Dan on the wings with Matto upfront completed the line-up.
 Luke had a great game, competing for everything and running his socks off. We kept up the pressure and eventually had a well-deserved break-through from a corner with Dan sticking it in the back of the net. 1-0 in to half-time!
 

The second-half continued the battle royale, with Dalkey competing very well in midfield and frankly showing constant superiority in the air. Charlie had a fantastic game and took a well-deserved rest with Cian P coming on from him. Cian was then instrumental in the build-up to our second goal, passing it to Matto, who slid is past the Dalkey keeper for a well-deserved goal. 2-0!
 We were starting to run out of batteries somewhat and Jackson, who had played brilliantly, got a ball full in the face, so came off and was replaced by Louis “Hopalong” Huggard. Andy “Bruce Lee” Palmer was also suffering from cramp after a super performance, so Cian McC came on for him. We kept Dalkey at bay until about the 65^th minute, when they scored from a volley off a corner-kick.

 For some bizarre reason, our heads went down, even though we were still 2-1 ahead, so the players were, er, gently reminded from the sideline that they were, in fact, winning!
 A scrappy last 15 minutes was somewhat marred by a few dodgy refereeing decisions and we were caught napping with 10 seconds to go when a Dalkey striker found some space outside the box, said a Hail Mary and kicked... it went in just under the crossbar. Arrghhh! 2-2. Cruel.
 The final whistle was blown at the restart and the boys were very disappointed. They shouldn’t be – it was their best performance so far and we registered our first ever point!!
 Onwards and upwards ...

Terenure FC 1-6 St James

Finally, Bushy Park was playable and we hosted our very first home match. The home fans were out in force with standing room only on the sidelines.


And what a treat they were in for ... well, for the first 30-40 minutes anyway!


Andy returned for an excellent performance as goalie, leaving Jackson for a trot outfield. As promised, our starting 11 included anyone who had not started the week previously. We really were brilliant for the first 20 minutes, playing easily our best football so far this season and definitely had St. James's on the ropes. We had several near misses, with both Matt  P and Oisín finding the woodwork. At last, after a goal mouth scramble, Jackson put away his first goal of the season. 1-0 to Terenure and the coaches were feeling like Irish rugby fans watching the first half of Ireland v the All Blacks. "Pinch me Hugh, am I dreaming!".  The back four of big Matt, Sam,Tom and Cian were on fire and we were dealing with every potential attacking ball immediately and efficiently Both Conors played their socks off, running tirelessly and Luke was getting stuck in at every opportunity  As well as scoring the goal, Jackson caused mayhem in midfield, challenging for everything and winning a lot  Oisín and Matt created a lot of chances and were unfortunate not to convert more ... We were dominant up to about 35 minutes in and frankly should have been 3-0 up. Then, in an all-too familiar scene, we were caught on the break and let their handy number 11 level the scores. After that, we seemed to lose momentum and let them score a demoralising goal just before half time. We did not deserve to be 2-1 down into the break after the amount of pressure exerted in the first half.


The second half was disappointing as we let them get stuck in and the often highlighted issue of our fitness and stamina levels came to the fore. We let the heads go down after they scored again and really just awaited the mercy of the full time whistle in the end.


So to roll out the hackneyed clichés , it was a game of two halves where we gave 110% (but only for the first 35 minutes) with the end result leaving us all sick as a parrot. The glimmer of hope is growing stronger though - we need to stay calm, organised and disciplined. And so do the boys ...

Its a wash out!

Our last 3 games have all been called off due to weather hence why there was no report to the park celtic preview.