IRELAND TOUR, APRIL 8-18, 2004

Coach: John Daly

Assistant Coach: Andy Biggs

Administrator: Alex Gellatly

Trainer: Monica Shepherd

Also attending: Bob Palmeiro (Monday-Sunday) and Joe Totman (Thursday – Sunday)

The team arrived in Dublin around 4.15pm on Good Friday, April 9 and transferred to the hotel before going to its first training session.

Friday

Evening, first training session

Jog and stretch; fun line up game followed by two heading competitions; first in threes, then in sixes working on back heading. Stretch down and then returned to the hotel.

Saturday

morning

Jog and stretch; keep-away with one ball while opposing team tries to hit the ball of the possessing team.

Then:-

1. Team shape, b. speed of play; c. possession with emphasis on penetrating decisions.

Then 6 v 6 with goalkeepers as targets; reverse attacking direction once the ball is played to one keeper. Emphasis on body shape, team shape, speed of play, deciding between possession and penetration.

Finished with crossing and finishing

Afternoon trip to central Dublin. Dinner in Dublin followed by European women’s qualifier – Ireland versus Croatia, a very one sided affair with Ireland winning 7-1.

Sunday

Following services, the team departed for Castlebar, county Mayo.

Evening training session

Jog and stretch; Windows game, including three player combinations, wall passes, beginning to emphasize pace of passes; 8 v 8 with restraining line for defenders – forwards must be able to reach ball before it passes out of zone.

Setting wall for defending free kicks, setting up for defending corner kicks

6 + 2 v 6 + 2 finishing, six v six with two end players to redirect balls with one touch

Monday

Morning

Jog and stretch; Attacking and defending corners; attacking and defending free kicks

Evening game versus Mayo women’s team. 0-0 at half time, ending up 3-0 to region one.

This was a good decision to play an extra game at the beginning of the week. We started well, but were obviously in need of some cohesion and understanding. We had a number of chances in the first half but our crossing and final pass left a little to be desired! Hurtado broke the deadlock early in the second half and two quick goals from Edwards and Singer provided a fair reflection of the game.

Team versus Mayo:-

Gates (Naehr 40)

Bowers, Walden, Murphy (Long 65), Colfer (McClernon 40)

Long (Regan 40)

Lebo (Hurtado 40) McNicholas

Klingenberg (Edwards 40)

Adamtzikis (Singer 40) Rossi (Peteraf 40)

Goals: Hurtado 51, Edwards 64, Singer 69

Tuesday morning trip to Westport, County Mayo to view Croag Patrick where St. Patrick is said to have banished snakes from Ireland

Tuesday

Evening training

One touch keepaway; In threes, serving bending balls; serving bending balls into the “second six” with just forwards finishing, then with opposition; finishing from end line serves; finishing bouncing balls; finishing from within four by four box at the edge of the area.

Wednesday

Morning

Jog and stretch; laying ball off to support player, spinning to receive through ball; combination play between midfield and front players - ball must come back to go forward; 3-3-2 shape to end line dribble across line to score; attacking corner kicks

Evening versus Ireland. 4-2 to Region One

In pouring rain, the team settled well early and looked dangerous every time we attacked. Singer and Adamtzikis gave the Irish defence a torrid time and, with a little luck, could have put us ahead in the first five or ten minutes. Eventually, good work down the right from Singe allowed Adamtzikis to run on and score off the inside of the far post. Adamtzikis then provided Rossi with the chance to make it two. We were a little complacent at the beginning of the second half and a speculative long shot caught Naehr off her line and Ireland got the boost it needed with an early goal. Naehr seemed to let the goal upset her and she made a hasty decision to come off her line shortly afterwards and was lobbed for the equalizer. The team then showed character and resilience in weathering the storm and Rossi touched the ball through to Lebo for a good low finish to put us back in front. Peteraf then played a delightful through ball to Rossi sprinting through and she calmly made it 4-2

Naehr

Murphy Walden Long Colfer

Regan

Lebo (McClernon 80) Klingenberg (McNicholas 55)

Rossi

Adamtzikis (Peteraf 54) Singer (Hurtado 73)

Goals: Adamtzikis (Singer) 28, Rossi (Adamtzikis 43), Lebo (Rossi) 77, Rossi (Peteraf) 79

Ireland 56 and 63

Thursday

Morning

Jog and stretch; juggling in pairs; two touch juggling, call number and surface before serving; handball game with headed goal to score; progress to pass must be received on chest first; rotating goalkeepers shooting to finish.

Evening versus Northern Ireland, 4-0 Region One

This really was a stern test for the team, not from a purely soccer standpoint, but from the fact that our opponents were absolutely unscrupulous with their challenges. Complying with the urging of their assistant coach, they slid in from behind, tripped and, basically, battered our players for almost the entire eighty minutes. The referee allowed it all to go on and only issued one yellow card in the seventy ninth minute when Alli Long was brutally taken down from behind a full second after releasing the ball! Our players were absolutely magnificent in going about their job and resisting the provocative attempts of the Northern Irish squad to goad them. One of the free kicks we had worked on led to the first goal when Keri’s delivery found the net, albeit due to a fortuitous bounce over the stranded keeper. Hurtado made it two when NI failed to clear a corner and we were off to another good start, as in the Ireland game. We then took our foot off the gas somewhat and allowed Ireland more possession. They rarely threatened however until after half time when they did have a series of corners but our defence stood firm. We weathered the storm and Bowers made it three when the NI defence again failed to clear a corner. Klingenberg scored the fourth with an amazing free kick following Ali Long’s dismemberment and the game finished 4-0.

Gates

Edwards Walden Murphy McNicholas

Regan (Long 51)

Lebo (Klingenberg 56) Bowers (Adamtzikis 80)

Rossi

McLernon (Peteraf 52) Hurtado (Singer 68)

Goals: McNicholas 6, Hurtado (Regan) 7, Bowers (Edwards) 75, Klingenberg 79

Friday

Morning

Trip to Galway for shopping.

Evening

Jog around hotel on return and team meeting in fitness room to go over England scouting report.

Saturday

Morning v England (2-2, England wins 6-5 on pks)

We started slowly and found ourselves being “pressed” effectively by the English 4-4-2 system. We had a very good opportunity early when Rossi was played in just to the left of goal and just outside the area. Bowers was in a great position to finish the move off but Kylee did not spot her and the chance was gone. The very strong win blowing diagonally against us was causing a lot of trouble and with the England pressing proving effective we were unable to mount many threatening attacks. The referee awarded a very harsh penalty from which England took the lead and a goalkeepeing error allowed them to double the score before half time. We changed keepers at half time and brought Singer on up front for Peteraf. More than that, though, we decided that we just had not given a good account of ourselves and vowed to put it right. Kylee should have leveled within ten minutes when she found herself through twice on the right only to miss the target with one and hit an inaccurate cross with another when in a better position to shoot. We did not have to wait long to equalize, however, and Caroline Walden scored from the penalty spot after a blatant handball in the England area. With time running out, Klingenberg was played in on the right by Hurtado and she hit a fine cross shot into the far corner to tie the game at 2-2. In both overtimes we had the lion’s share of the ball and Chelsea Regan should have scored just before the end of the first half but shot straight at the keeper from six yards out. England did have one chance in the second overtime but it went wide and the game was decided on penalty kicks. Both teams made their first five and, when we missed out sixth, the next England taker was able to keep her nerve and end the tussle.

Gates (Naehr 40)

Regan Walden Murphy Colfer

Long

Lebo (Hurtado 59) Bowers (McNicholas 50)

Klingenberg (Admtzikis 79) Rossi

Peteraf (Singer 40)

England: 13 (pk), 27

Region One: Walden (pk) 62, Klingenberrg (Hurtado) 79

Immediately following the game, we returned to the hotel, where we were allowed a late check out. We showered, changed and departed for Dublin.

Evening.

Following dinner in the hotel, we held individual meetings and retired, preparing for a very early departure on Sunday morning.

Overall, it was a very good learning experience for all of our players, and for our coaches. The players behaved themselves admirably and the camaraderie was outstanding more befitting a team that had been together for weeks rather than a couple of days! We were lacking a real target player and were a little concerned going into the first game as to who would supply the goals for us. As it turned out, the outcome was ideal with so many players scoring rather than just one or two!

We worked on corners and set pieces and managed to score a few goals from such situations. Defensively, we were very solid at the back and employing a “holding” midfield player (Regan and Long) gave added stability and cover to our defence. We did not have natural width as a result and Lebo, Klingenber, Bowers, McNicholas and Colfer had to be aware and work to provide it when possible.

We emphasized to the players the need to develop the ability to pace our passes into space to better effect. We still tend to drive balls in and if they beat the defenders they end up going all the way through to the goalkeeper or simply out of play. The English had a center midfield player we should bottle up and bring back to the US to show how to play balls from the middle of the field! She “clipped” little balls around and receiving them was easy for her team mates. It still frustrates me to see how often we lose possession by “thumping” the ball through to a sweeper or a keeper!

Maintaining possession from throw ins was another point of emphasis and, although we did better, we still need to improve. Our heading was very good. Long, Walden, Murphy, McNicholas (although tiny), and Regan are all very good headers of the ball.

The representative from the WFAI was wonderful. Carmel Dee is her name and nothing was too much for her. The accommodation in Castlebar was top notch; the food was very good and the staff were extremely helpful and accommodating. The rooms in Dublin were a little small and the last one hosted loud music long into the night! With a 4.00am wake up call, we were all deprived of much needed sleep.

Arrangements with regard to travel were very good. Buses arrived on time, hotels were ready to expedite our arrival and departure. The WFAI provided a representative to meet us in Dublin, Sean Brodie, and he arranged practice facilities for us at short notice. They also provided free tickets for the Ireland versus Croatia European qualifier and we attended that on Saturday evening.

JD