Boys U15 (2011) Major 1 - Newbridge Utd
By Declan O'Sullivan
It's no coincidence that the two best players on the field on Saturday morning were the captain and the vice-captain. Two leaders at opposite ends of the field. Both driving their team forward to get them into a position to challenge for the league. Both of them setting the standards. Both of them willing and able.
Sam O'Malley is our Captain. He's our centre half. And his reading of the game is second to none. To watch him insert himself between the ball and the attacker, plant his legs like a new born foal and spread his arms like a shield protecting the ball from marauders is a pleasure. The art of defending is alive and well with Sam.
Sean Savage is our vice-captain. He's our striker. And Sean Savage doesn't accept defeat. It's impossible to estimate how many times he has given everything to win a battle or a race that he shouldn't win and yet somehow he wins it. Somehow he gets to the ball first. Somehow the ball ends up in the net. Somehow the laws of averages don't apply to Sean Savage. He was our top scorer last season and he bagged a hat-trick on Saturday. His second goal was the epitome of 'never accepting defeat'. The ball bounced in the box towards the keeper. 99 times out of a hundred the keeper gets it. But Sean Savage is the 1 in a hundred. He threw himself at the ball and the keeper didn't. Goal.
On Saturday, Sam and Sean led the way. Everybody followed. Great performances were manifested from others like Niall O'Connell, David Beloiu, Cian O'Neill, Niko Dziabor and Fabian Wojciechowski.
The result keeps us on the coat tails of the league leaders. We go to Coill Dubh wanting the 3 points they took from us earlier in the season. That'll be a big game for big players.
We've had plenty of bad luck this season already where goals that should have stood have been disallowed and goals that should have been disallowed have stood. Oliver did an impression of Frank Lampard in the world cup on Saturday. A 30 yard rocket hit the crossbar and bounced a yard behind the line. Not given. A parent from newbridge said it was a yard behind the line and that's good enough for me. Maybe next week we'll get the luck. They say it balances itself out over a season. We need it to.
