On Saturday 9th November the St. Brendan’s Park Under 10’s went on their first away trip of the season to take on Listowel Celtic in a mini blitz. This was in fact the second attempt to travel as the first fell victim to the weather. Truth be told the weather was less than kind this time also but the 39 players from the Park that traveled didn’t seem to care that much. This was certainly evident from the high spirits exhibited by those that left Christy Leahy Park on the bus and matched by the others that met us when we arrived at Listowel Celtic.
Once we had deposited our gear in the dressing rooms it was time for Ken to take the boys through their paces in the warm up. Listowel Celtic had three teams for us to play so we split our lads into three squads of 13, the Saints, Brendans and the Park. Each squad was to play each of the Listowel teams in games of 20 minutes each.
When we arrived at the pitches it was evident that the weather was beginning to take its toll on the underfoot conditions so some of the “silky skills” that the boys have been learning on the AstroTurf would need to be supplemented with some determination and guts.
From the very first whistle that is exactly what all 39 of our players showed on the pitches. All the players gave their all while they on the pitch and cheered on their teammates when it was their turn to make way. There was some great saves made, excellent defending, composed midfield play and some excellent finishing in all of the 9 games played.
At the end our U10’s had performed incredibly well in all of the games but more importantly had played with a great spirit shaking hands with their opponents after each game. Conditions had been tough and their Park gear was certainly not as clean at the end as it had been in the beginning but the day was enjoyed by all.
At that stage it was back into cars and the bus for the trip back to Tralee with spirits higher than even the trip out….
Thanks to Listowel for arranging the matches and we look forward to welcoming them for a rematch in the near future in Tralee. Thanks also to all that traveled to support the teams.
Report by P.Doody
