Boys U17 (2010) Major 1 - Kilcock Celtic

We had an excellent turnout with 18 lads raring to go for the first game of the season.

Pre-Match Setup

We sent a note to parents/guardians and players before our first game of the season, and backed it up in the warm-up.

Our three main focuses were respect, positivity, and intensity.

Respect for the ref, opposition, coaches, each other, and themselves.

Positivity meant encouragement to each other, positive self-talk, and playing positively by driving forward or recycling if needed.

Tactically, we wanted the lads to trust ourselves because they have the ability, understand that there is no such thing as mistakes only things not going to plan and to just go again, and to ensure we defended as well as we attacked.

First Half (2-0)

We started really well with fantastic passing, little one-twos, triangles, and progressive passes up the line.

It was great to see lads recycling the ball and passing back to Fionn when needed rather than try to force passes that weren't on. Fionn had a great game at the back, and his long kicks really helped us turn defence into attack.

Ryan O'Rourke got our first goal, and Cameron scored the second, getting a ball to the face and a busted lip in the process. He still wanted to go back on 20 minutes later.

We could have had a lot more goals in the first half, with many blocked shots and many shots just wide.

Halftime Talk & Second Half

The half-time team talk focused on maintaining our intensity and avoiding leaking late goals from players trying to get on the score sheet, which has traditionally been an issue for us.

When intensity dropped slightly after the break, subs went in knowing their goal was to increase the intensity and set the example, which they did.

Kilcock tired, though to be fair to them, their heads never dropped and they battled the best they could.

Our attacks were too fast and clinical, scoring six in the second half.

Leban scored a hat-trick, Rohit scored a brace, and Emmet got one.

Oscar set up a couple of goals and other lads did, but I didn't manage to make a note of who it was.

Clean Sheet & Culture

The lads worked so hard to keep a clean sheet right to the end, tackling and covering in pairs at the back, and midfielders streaming back to help rather than ball-watching, as we've been guilty of in the past.

There was a great attitude all round: cheering from the sidelines, accepting positional tweaks without complaint, zero grumbles about subs, and good game time for everyone.

Everyone had a great game, with lots of brave headers, tackling, and lots of running. Everyone emptied their tank and gave full effort.

They all shook the ref's hand and thanked him at the end.

Special thanks to Daniel Parletti who helped out as assistant match day coach.

Final result: 8-0