Dessie McLoughlin expects to be nearly 'on top of the world' on Sunday June the 27th. He has been training intensively for some time to climb Mt. Blanc. This is a climb in aid of the Western Alzheimer's Association, a cause that has been starkly highlighted by Michael Noonan and others in recent times. Dessis has been a rock of Boyle GAA all his life and we are asking all GAA people to support him in this effort. On Saturday night next there is the opportunity to support a big Irish night of music and song and craic in The Moving Stairs starting at 9.30 or if you cannot attend contact Des at Trojan, Boyle or even myself T.C.
Boyle play Creggs on Sat. evening next in the Tansey Cup at 7 in Boyle. I was looking through the Tansey Cup table and wondered if we have an ambivalent attitude towards this league?
I watched the junior game versus St. Joseph’s last Saturday evening and there were times when I was pulling my hair out and I have witnesses! As somebody who did some coaching, in the distinguished company of Sean Young, there were some issues present which led to my hair-raising antics and I might as well get them off my chest;
1. The looping high ball forward impersonating a pass or if meant as a score as if there was a bonus point for hitting it 20/30 feet over the crossbar.
2. Kicking a free wide ‘on the wrong (near) side’. Now anyone can kick a free wide but the message is put it wide on the ‘far’ side….if you follow me.
3. ‘Securing’ the ball as opposed to having it bop around like a hot potato. There are two fine examples of people who do actually ‘secure’ the ball on the team i.e. John Healy and Donal Kelly.
4. The famous ‘hospital’ pass….if anyone does not know what that is call 999.
5. The solo run …the height of the toe tap. Perhaps you might trip across archive film of Jimmy Barry Murphy circa ’73 to see a really economic version of that. The second element of the solo run is the hop. I remember Dermot Earley often getting say maybe a dozen yards by hopping the ball solidly way out in front of him with it hopping at the right height for collection…..if he had the space of course.
6. I was always an advocate of the ‘quick’ free… but when it goes wrong it hurts.
7. I’ll end this coaching corner (cut out the corners) with: consider-as I used to say to Killian (with a K) Egan- giving it to the shooters………kicking it in the direction of the goalposts is problematic. Though when I said this in another context I was told; ‘It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive’.
p.s. Practise weak foot, practise weak foot, practise......and Fisted points count......
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