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Crossmolina Festival Soccer Blitz 2008
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“We’re rubbish. We haven’t a
hope of winning.”
It is charitable to say that this youngster’s aspirations of giant-killing in the competition that lay ahead were slight. The flip-chart bearing the names of the teams that would contest the inaugural Crossmolina Festival Soccer Blitz had dashed his hopes of victory before a ball had even been kicked. Far from being shunned by his team-mates as a prophet of doom they actually concurred heartily with his grim assessment of their chances as they trudged onto the pitch to make their tournament debut. Sixteen minutes later, after they tasted defeat for the first of three times that evening, one of his colleagues approached the manager and triumphantly proclaimed “I told you we would lose.” Mercifully there were six other teams participating who harboured greater hopes of emerging victorious from the competition. The Abbeytown pitch was host to two miniature pitches bookended by smaller five-a-side goals and John Heffernan took up residence beside the fence, surrounded by all the administrative tools he would require to co-ordinate the event with the efficiency he has become known for. |
The flip chart was the focal point of proceedings as all the youngsters clamoured around it to find out who they had been teamed with. Once they dispersed it transformed into a fixture list that John would update as the results were reported to him by the match referees. The loudspeaker that had been supplied by the festival committee proved slightly less useful as every announcement was accompanied by a piercing shriek of feedback that deafened any player who might have been in its line of fire and left most of its audience bemused.
| Back on the field of play the games were in full flow. Jason Canavan made his managerial debut and he gathered his troops prior to kickoff to impart the footballing wisdom that his years of playing had earned him. Assessing the personnel at his disposal he assigned duties to each individual and arranged them in a playing formation that he thought would ensure victory over the forthcoming sixteen minutes of battle. As the shrill blast of the whistle heralded the kickoff his charges proceeded to….well….charge around enthusiastically after the ball, blissfully oblivious to formation or tactics. It was not only the managers who were struggling to keep control of events. The referees had the unenviable task of trying to maintain the rules of the game as twelve players ran around at full speed in various directions. To their credit the teams all played the game fairly and there was more chance of a player hitting the ground due to treading on the ball than as a result of a devious tackle from an opponent. At times the ball magnetically drew the players towards it which would produce a scrum of bodies all flailing in earnest as they tried to propel the ball in some direction. |
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For a referee to spot an infringement in the middle of this fray he would require years of training and a hard heart to penalise any of the competitors for their honest effort. Indeed the players’ frustration with their arbiter would often be visible when a throw-in was incorrectly awarded to the opposing team when it was perfectly obvious to them what the right decision was. Wise referees just allowed the game to flow and inevitably the players themselves would sort out any debatable decisions, again, a testimony to their honesty and fair play.
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With the group games completed and a number of teams level on points the decision was made to conduct a penalty shootout playoff to decide who would contest the final against the team with three wins. Jason was again made aware of the differences in managing at Premiership level and trying to marshall a group of youngsters when his hopes of competing in that playoff were dashed by two of his players excusing themselves so they could go home for their dinner. Whatever criticisms can be levelled at Cristiano Ronaldo he can never be accused of deserting his team to enjoy bacon and cabbage! Following on from the previous departure of another player whose mother came to collect him this was a fatal blow to Jason's hopes of winning the title. Two series of shootouts provided two teams for the final shootout and eventually the competition had two teams to vie for the title. The game was extraordinarily close with neither side managing to score in the first half but the Fir Bolgs broke the deadlock midway through the second period and then added an insurance goal with the final kick of the game to claim the grand prize ahead of Na Saoirse. |
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Fir Bolgs Dean Loftus Pat McGoff Shave Flanagan Emma Judge Jordan Flynn Ciaran Brennan Niall Boyle
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Na Fianna Stacey Mangan Kenneth McHugh Madeline Keane Kevin Keane Steven Flanagan Darren Cadden Fergal Regan Samantha McDonnell
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Tuaithe De Danann Brian Rowland Niamh Larkin Darragh McCormack Adam Breen Connor Rowland Nigel Cadden Marie Larkin Eoin McDonnell
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Na Saoirse Michelle Kearns Gary Hopkins Clara Loftus James Gallagher Patrick Carolan Rachel Kearns Ciaran Haran
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Cuchulainns James Carr Oran Strong James Burke Roy Counihan Danielle Kelly Coleen Barrett Liam Flanagan |
Fionn McCools Eoin Kelly Samuel McKimley Finan Duffy Adam Colohan Sinead Timlin Keith Hopkins Caroline Haran |
Setanta Conor Gray Sean Cadden Liam Fox Lorcan Moore Sean Lynott Simon Gillespie Melissa Breen |
Organisers/Referees/Managers Bert Carolan Jason Canavan Ciaran Connor John Davis John Duggan Paul Flaherty Michael Timlin |
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